Ni-doped MoS2 nanoparticles as highly active hydrogen evolution electrocatalysts

The replacement of Pt with cheap metal electrocatalysts with high efficiency and superior stability for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) remains a great challenge. Furthermore, the optimization of MoS2 electrocatalysts has attracted much attention. In this work, we report a simple strategy to enhance the HER ability of MoS2 catalysts via the doping of nickel. With the doping of a small amount of nickel, the MoS2 catalyst shows more electrochemical active sites, higher turnover frequency over each active site and better conductivity, resulting in excellent HER activity with a small Tafel slope of 47 mV dec(-1), making it a promising HER electrocatalyst for practical applications.