A Ni and MoxC hybrid (Ni-MoxC) supported on N-doped reduced graphene oxide (N-rGO) electrocatalyst with high hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) activity was prepared by ultrasonication and lyophilization. Notably, benefiting from the synergistic effect between Ni and MoxC nanoparticles, the optimized electrocatalyst displayed excellent catalytic activity with low overpotentials of 183 mV and 216 mV for the HER at the current density 10 mA cm(-2) in 1.0 M KOH and 0.5 M H2SO4 solution. The stability of the electrocatalyst could be well maintained for 24 h. These results indicate that the method to prepare hybrid (Ni-MoxC) is a simple way to produce cost-effective and high-efficient molybdenum carbide for hydrogen evolution. (C) 2019 Hydrogen Energy Publications LLC. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.