Hydrogen produced from water by the hydrogen evolution reaction is an attractive clean fuel source. Production of hydrogen on a large scale at low cost is necessary to realize its viability as an alternative energy source to fossil fuels. To achieve this goal, durable, inexpensive catalysts are required. Most present catalysts based on non-precious metals suffer from instability in the acidic solutions formed during hydrogen evolution. However, simply protecting the catalyst from the acidic solution tends to lower its activity.