Facile synthesis of mesoporous TiC-C nanocomposite microsphere efficient for hydrogen evolution

Mesoporous TiC-C nanocomposite microspheres have been facilely and successfully synthesized by a soft-template assisted hydrothermal method. The as-obtained hollow TiC-C microspheres presented large surface area. The fabricated TiC-C microsphere worked as an efficient electrocatalyst, displaying much improved performance in the hydrogen evolution reaction in comparison with the commercial TiC catalyst. The TiC-C microsphere was also a good candidate support to load 5 wt% Pt, which exhibited much better performance and lower onset potential in comparison with the commercial 20 wt% Pt@C. Our findings suggest that synthesis of the microsphere structure may provide a great opportunity to improve catalytic properties for hydrogen evolution. (C) 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.