Citation: Zhaodi Huang, Yaqi Bi, Kaiwen Li, Juji She, Zhibo Zhao, Qian Li, Caixia Xu, Daofeng Sun, Weijia Zhou. Confined ultrasmall Co/VN Mott-Schottky heterojunctions in dual-dimensional carbon shells for pH-universal hydrogen evolution[J]. Chinese Chemical Letters, ;2026, 37(12): 112806. doi: 10.1016/j.cclet.2026.112806 shu

Confined ultrasmall Co/VN Mott-Schottky heterojunctions in dual-dimensional carbon shells for pH-universal hydrogen evolution

Zhaodi Huang ^{a, b} ,
Yaqi Bi ^a ,
Kaiwen Li ^b ,
Juji She ^a ,
Zhibo Zhao ^a ,
Qian Li ^a ,
Caixia Xu ^{a, *,} ,
Daofeng Sun ^{b, *,} ,
Weijia Zhou ^{a, *,}

a.
Institute for Advanced Interdisciplinary Research (iAIR), School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, University of Jinan, Ji’nan 250022, China
b.
School of Materials Science and Engineering, China University of Petroleum (East China), Qingdao 266580, China

chm_xucx@ujn.edu.cn

dfsun@upc.edu.cn

ifc_zhouwj@ujn.edu.cn

Received Date: 20 January 2026
Revised Date: 8 April 2026
Accepted Date: 20 April 2026
Available Online: 21 April 2026

Figures(6)

The development of efficient hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) electrocatalysts that operate across various pH levels is of paramount importance for advancing the green hydrogen economy. In this work, we report a sequential pre-immobilization and selective nitridation strategy to fabricate ultrasmall Co/VN Mott-Schottky heterojunctions confined in dual-dimensional carbon shells (Co/VN@DDC) for pH-universal HER catalysis. Theoretical calculations show that the work function difference-induced d-orbital electron transfer from metal Co to semiconductor VN at the Mott-Schottky heterointerface creates a built-in electric field, resulting in optimal energy barriers with accelerated water dissociation and H₂ evolution kinetics. Besides, the in situ generated carbon protective layers, consisting of two-dimensional (2D) nanosheets modified three-dimensional (3D) nanospheres, can protect the internal Co/VN cores from dissolution and aggregation. Therefore, the well-designed Co/VN@DDC exhibits low overpotentials and high catalytic durability in acidic, neutral, and alkaline electrolytes, respectively. This work provides an innovative approach to fabricating ultrasmall Co/VN Mott-Schottky heterojunctions confined in dual-dimensional carbon shells to advance electrocatalytic applications.
- CoV-MOF microreactors,
- Ultrasmall size,
- Mott-Schottky heterojunctions,
- Dual-dimensional carbon shells,
- Hydrogen evolution reaction,
- pH-universal catalysis
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