A simple approach for the synthesis of oxygen vacancy rich molybdenum oxide (MoOx) on Mo foil using simple anodization method has been developed. The oxygen vacancy of synthesized MoOx is confirmed by Raman, XPS, and XRD measurements. MoOx/Mo electrode exhibits high active for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) in alkaline solution. The HER performance of MoOx/Mo can be further improved by electrodepositing of small amount of Pt nanoparticles on MoOx. Pt-MoOx/Mo electrode shows high HER performance, which is close to the performance of Pt. Importantly, Pt-MoOx/Mo electrode has excellent stability even after 2000 potential cycles in alkaline solution. Our study proposed a simple method for preparing low-cost Mo based electrode for high efficient hydrogen production. (C) 2017 Hydrogen Energy Publications LLC. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.