High-throughput production of cheap mineral-based two-dimensional electrocatalysts for high-current-density hydrogen evolution

The high-throughput scalable production of cheap, efficient and durable electrocatalysts that work well at high current densities demanded by industry is a great challenge for the large-scale implementation of electrochemical technologies. Here we report the production of a two-dimensional molybdenum disulfide-based ink-type electrocatalyst by a scalable exfoliation technique followed by a thermal treatment. The catalyst delivers a high current density of 1000mAcm(-2) at an overpotential of 412mV for the hydrogen evolution. Using the same method, we produce a cheap mineral-based catalyst possessing excellent performance for high-current-density hydrogen evolution. Noteworthy, production rate of this catalyst is one to two orders of magnitude higher than those previously reported, and price of the mineral is five orders of magnitude lower than commercial Pt electrocatalysts. These advantages indicate the huge potentials of this method and of mineral-based cheap and abundant natural resources as catalysts in the electrochemical industry. The large-scale implementation of electrochemical technologies will require the high-throughput production of high-performance, inexpensive catalysts. Here, authors demonstrate earth abundant molybdenite as raw materials to produce efficient MoS2 catalysts for high current density H-2 evolution.