An efficient CoMoS2 nanosheets on nitrogen, sulfur dual doped reduced graphene oxide as an electrocatalyst for the hydrogen evolution reaction

An increase in the necessity for clean and renewable energy leads to the production of hydrogen by several methods. Splitting of water by electrolysis is catching up to be a productive method to produce pure hydrogen with low cost and high efficiency using highly active non-noble metal electrocatalysts. MoS2 has been widely studied for energy conservation devices for its 2D layered structure, excellent electronic conductivity, and high specific surface area. Incorporating transition metals (Co or Ni) will alter the intrinsic characteristic of MoS2 by enhancing its electrocatalytic property for hydrogen evolution reaction. Hence MoS2, CoMoS2, Co0.5MoS2 and a composite of Co0.5MoS2 with nitrogen sulfur doped graphene oxide were prepared by a facile hydrothermal method. Better performance was observed for the composite of Co0.5MoS2 with N, S-rGO compared to other prepared catalysts with a low onset potential of 85 mV, overpotential (at 10 mA/cm(2)) of 178 mV and Tafel slope of 63.8 mV/dec. Further, the stability of the catalyst evaluated by chronoamperometric analysis demonstrated steady electrochemical performance for 12 hours.

Automated summary

The increasing demand for clean and renewable energy has led to the development of various methods for hydrogen production. The combination of MoS2 with transition metals has been found to enhance the catalytic performance for the hydrogen evolution reaction. Among the catalysts studied, the composite of Co0.5MoS2 with N, S-rGO demonstrated the best electrocatalytic activity and stability.