(Fe1-xDyx)3C/C composites: structure, magnetism and electrocatalytic properties for hydrogen evolution reaction

The (Fe1-xDyx)3C@C composites were produced by a simple sol-gel route. The structure, composition, morphology and magnetism of the composites are studied by many characterization methods, for example, X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), scanning and transmission electron microscopy (SEM, TEM) as well as vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM). Analysis of the above results indicates that the (Fe1-xDyx)3C is embedded in carbon nanotubes and carbon matrix and displays ferromagnetic properties. Moreover, this indicates that saturation magnetization (MS) values of the composites tend to increase with the increase in Dy doping. More importantly, we investigates the electrochemical hydrogen production capacity of the (Fe1-xDyx)3C@C composites.