Facile and one-step synthesis of a free-standing 3D MoS2–rGO/Mo binder-free electrode for efficient hydrogen evolution reaction. Issue 34 (16th August 2017)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Barman, Barun Kumar; Das, Debanjan; Nanda, Karuna Kar
• Is Part Of: Journal of materials chemistry. Volume 5:Issue 34(2017)
• Page Start: 18081
• Page End: 18087
• Publication Date: 2017-08-16
• Subjects: Materials -- Research -- Periodicals; Chemistry, Analytic -- Periodicals; Environmental sciences -- Research -- Periodicals; 543.0284
• DOI: 10.1039/c7ta05440h
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 2050-7488

Abstract

Abstract : Free-standing 3D MoS2 /Mo and MoS2 –rGO/Mo electrodes were prepared via a facile, one-step hydrothermal method for enhanced hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) performance. Abstract : A free-standing 3D MoS2 /Mo electrode was prepared via a facile, one-step hydrothermal method wherein the Mo foil itself acted as the Mo source and thio-urea as the S source. When directly used as a hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) electrode, the as-prepared MoS2 /Mo exhibited a low onset potential of 120 mV, requiring an overpotential of only 334 mV to reach a current density of 100 mA cm −2 while maintaining its catalytic activity for over 20 h. The activation energy of the reaction was determined to be ∼120 meV by temperature-dependent HER studies. In addition, we have also shown that MoS2 structures can be repetitively grown on Mo foil for subsequent HER application by etching MoS2 with H2 O2 . The HER performance was enhanced further by incorporating reduced graphene oxide (rGO) into the 3D MoS2 /Mo electrode, which facilitated better electron transfer through rGO. The onset potential of the MoS2 –rGO/Mo was 100 mV (which is 20 mV lower than that of the MoS2 /Mo electrode) and it required 291 mV to achieve a current density of 100 mA cm −2 . The catalysts were also found to be highly durable.