Colloidal Synthesis of Hybrids Graphene-Mo2C with Potential Application in Water Splitting

Abstract

Graphene is a carbon allotrope that is formed by a single layer of carbon atoms, which are tightly bounded in a hexagonal honeycomb lattice. It was isolated for the first time by Andre K. Geim and Konstantin Novoselov of the University of Manchester in the early 2000s. From that moment, this material has gained enormous interest due to its promising properties for different applications. These include high thermal and electrical conductivities, high elasticity and flexibility, high resistance, or antibacterial effect, among other. However, graphene can be decorated with metals, organics, or other phases to improve its characteristics for certain applications, for instance in sensors or catalyzers for water splitting. As it is possible to check, one of the fields where the hybrids graphene-metal phase (i. e. strontium titanate or molybdenum disulfide) is gaining interest is in the field of catalyzers to produce hydrogen from the water splitting. Apart from the above-mentioned combinations, one of the options that is more hopeful in the field of catalyzers for hydrogen evolution is the decoration of graphene with molybdenum (II) carbide. Different alternative methods have been proposed for the synthesis of these nanocomposites, although the common issue of the processes is the complexity of the method with the use of several stages, long processes, or complex reagents. Therefore, a novel process based on colloidal processing method is proposed to synthesize the hybrids using molybdenum chloride as precursor of the carbide.