Ultrathin MoSSe alloy nanosheets anchored on carbon nanotubes as advanced catalysts for hydrogen evolution

• Published in: International journal of hydrogen energy 2019-06, Vol.44 (31), p.16110-16119
• Main Authors: Qiao, Junhua, Song, Fangfang, Hu, Jianguo, Huo, Da, Yuan, Junhua, Shen, Jianfeng, Niu, Li, Wang, Ai-jun
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Alloy; Core shell; Hydrogen evolution reaction; Nanosheets
• ISSN: 0360-3199; 1879-3487
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ijhydene.2019.04.232

The activity of transition metal dichalcogenides (TMD) toward hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) derives from the active sites at the edges, but the basal surface still remain catalytic insert. Herein, ultrathin MoSSe alloy nanosheets array on multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) to form a core shell structure via a simple solvothermal process. These three-dimensional (3D) MoSSe hybrids show a high activity in hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) with a small Tafel slope of 38 mV dec−1 and a low overpotential of 102 mV at 10 mA cm−2. In addition, their HER activity remains remarkably stable without significant decay after 100 h polarization. Such superior catalytic HER activity springs from the 3D hierarchical heterostructure, which is abundant of catalytic edge sites, and the alloy effect between S and Se, which will create huge defects and strain to form vacancy sites on the basal plane. This strategy may open a new avenue toward the development of nonprecious high-performance HER catalysts. [Display omitted] •Ultrathin MoSSe alloy nanosheets uniformly grow on carbon nanotubes.•The hybrids show a high activity and stability in hydrogen evolution reaction.•H2 is produced at 10 mA cm−2 with a Tafel slope as small as 38 mV dec−1.•The high activity is ascribed to alloy effect and 3D core shell superstructure.