Molybdenum Disulfide/Nitrogen-Doped Reduced Graphene Oxide Nanocomposite with Enlarged Interlayer Spacing for Electrocatalytic Hydrogen Evolution

• Published in: Advanced energy materials Vol. 6; no. 12; pp. np - n/a
• Main Authors: Tang, Yu-Jia, Wang, Yu, Wang, Xiao-Li, Li, Shun-Li, Huang, Wei, Dong, Long-Zhang, Liu, Chun-Hui, Li, Ya-Fei, Lan, Ya-Qian
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Weinheim Blackwell Publishing Ltd 01.06.2016; Wiley Subscription Services, Inc
• Subjects: Catalysts; Catalytic activity; Current density; Electrocatalysts; enlarged interlayer spacing; Expansion; Graphene; Hydrogen evolution; hydrogen evolution reaction; Hydrogen evolution reactions; Industrial applications; Interlayers; Molybdenum; Molybdenum disulfide; MoS2/RGO; Nanocomposites; Nitrogen; nitrogen-doped species; Oxides; Synergistic effect; Water splitting
• ISSN: 1614-6832; 1614-6840
• DOI: 10.1002/aenm.201600116

Facile design of low‐cost and highly active catalysts from earth‐abundant elements is favorable for the industrial application of water splitting. Here, a simple strategy to synthesize an ultrathin molybdenum disulfide/nitrogen‐doped reduced graphene oxide (MoS2/N‐RGO‐180) nanocomposite with the enlarged interlayer spacing of 9.5 Å by a one‐step hydrothermal method is reported. The synergistic effects between the layered MoS2 nanosheets and N‐doped RGO films contribute to the high activity for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). MoS2/N‐RGO‐180 exhibits the excellent catalytic activity with a low onset potential of −5 mV versus reversible hydrogen elelctrode (RHE), a small Tafel slope of 41.3 mV dec−1, a high exchange current density of 7.4 × 10−4 A cm−2, and good stability over 5 000 cycles under acidic conditions. The HER performance of MoS2/N‐RGO‐180 nanocomposite is superior to the most reported MoS2‐based catalysts, especially its onset potential and exchange current density. In this work, a novel and simple method to the preparation of low‐cost MoS2‐based electrocatalysts with the extraordinary HER performance is presented. A simple strategy to synthesize an ultrathin molybdenum disulfide/nitrogen‐doped reduced graphene oxide (MoS2/N‐RGO‐180) nanocomposite with the enlarged interlayer spacing of 9.5 Å is reported. MoS2/N‐RGO‐180 exhibits excellent hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) catalytic activity with a low onset potential of −5 mV versus RHE, a small Tafel slope of 41.3 mV dec−1 and good stability over 5000 cycles.