Heterostructures Comprised of Co/β‐Mo2C‐Encapsulated N‐Doped Carbon Nanotubes as Bifunctional Electrodes for Water Splitting

Herein, we demonstrate heterostructures comprised of Co/β‐Mo2C@N‐CNTs hybrids for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and oxygen evolution reaction (OER) in alkaline electrolyte. The Co can not only create well‐defined heterointerface with β‐Mo2C but also overcome the poor OER activity of β‐Mo2C, leading to enhanced electrocatalytic activity for HER and OER. DFT calculations further prove that by cooperating the N‐CNTs, Co, and β‐Mo2C results in lower the energy barriers of intermediates, thus greatly enhances the HER and OER performance. This work not only provides a simple strategy to construct heterostructures with nonprecious metals, but also presents an in‐depth insight into the HER and OER mechanism in alkaline solution.

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