Exposure of active edge structure for electrochemical H2 evolution from VS2/MWCNTs hybrid catalysts

Developing highly efficient and stable non-noble-metal catalysts for electrochemical hydrogen production is the main subject toward energy conversion systems. In this work, the vanadium disulfide/multi-walled carbon nanotubes (VS2/MWCNTs) is synthesized by a facile hydrothermal process. The introducing of MWCNTs could provide abundant sites for the anchoring of VS2 to expose more edge structure. Besides, the electron transfer from MWCNTs to VS2 could increase the electron density of VS 2 and further enhance the HER performance of the composites. The optimized VS2/MWCNTs composite exhibits excellent HER properties with a small eta(10) of 123 mV and low Tafel slope of 40 mV dec(-1). Meanwhile, the cobwebby network of the hybrid could significantly improve the electron transfer and durability of the catalyst. This work provides an available route for further application of the transition metal dichalcogenides based nanostructure. (C) 2018 Hydrogen Energy Publications LLC. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.