MoS2/Nitrogen-doped graphene as efficient electrocatalyst for oxygen reduction reaction

A simple yet effective strategy was developed to generate a non-precious oxygen electrode electrocatalyst of MoS2/nitrogen-doped graphene (NG) by physical mixing MoS2 sheets with NG. The micrometer-sized MoS2 sheets were obtained through ultrasonication exfoliation of the bulk MoS2, only showing little oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) activity. MoS2/NG hybrid was obtained by loading MoS2 sheets onto NG through ultrasonication, and the resulting nanocomposites exhibited improved electrocatalytic activity for ORR with dominant 4 electron pathway in alkaline solutions. The exposed active edges as well as the synergistic effect and reduced resistance connection jointly make the MoS2/NG composite a highly competitive ORR catalyst. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.