MoS2 nanoflower incorporated with Au/Pt nanoparticles for highly efficient hydrogen evolution reaction

Hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) by effective catalysts has been extensively investigated as a promising way to produce H-2 as a clean and sustainable energy source. Previous studies have identified Pt as one of the most efficient catalysts due to the fast kinetics and the moderate hydrogen binding energy, while the high-cost of Pt restrains the practical applications. In this research, we present a hydrothermal method to fabricate the hybrid of nanoscale noble metals incorporated in the earth-abundant material MoS2. The results indicate that incorporation of a small amount of Au and Pt strongly enhances the HER performance compared with pure MoS2, which attributes to the enhanced electrical charge transfer, increased active sites, and reduced resistance. Especially, the electrocatalytic performance of the as-synthesized 5% weight loading Pt-MoS2 is comparable with the commercial 10% Pt/C catalyst, with a low overpotential of 103 mV vs. RHE at the current density of 10 mA cm(-2) and Tafel slope of 56 mV dec(-1). The sample also exhibits excellent durability, and the low amount of noble metal usage could reduce the cost to a large extent, making it more practical to be applied in hydrogen generation. The strategy to control the particle size with the various morphologies of the supporting material MoS2 may also be useful to develop other noble metal-based catalysts.

Automated summary

The study focuses on fabricating a hybrid of nanoscale noble metals incorporated in the earth-abundant material MoS2 using a hydrothermal method. The results showed that incorporating a small amount of Au and Pt significantly enhanced the HER performance due to improved electrical charge transfer, increased active sites, and reduced resistance. This research demonstrates a new catalyst design strategy that can effectively improve HER performance and reduce costs.