Abstract
Nanostructured molybdenum disulfide (MoS) is a very promising catalyst for producing molecular hydrogen by electrochemical methods. Herein, we have designed and synthesized highly electocatalytically active 2D MoS nanosheets (NS) from molybdenum trioxide (MoO) by a facile hydrothermal method and have compared their electrocatalytic activities for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). The electrochemical characterization was performed using linear sweep voltammetry (LSV) in acidic medium. The MoS NS show a HER onset potential at about 80 mV vs. reversible hydrogen electrode (RHE) which is much lower than MoO (300 mV). The MoS NS and MoO show a current density of 25 mA cm and 0.3 mA cm, respectively at an overpotential of 280 mV vs. RHE. The MoS NS showed an 83 times higher current density when compared to MoO. The Tafel slopes of the MoS NS and MoO were about 90 mV per dec and 110 mV per dec respectively. This suggests that MoS NS are a better electrocatalyst when compared to MoO and follow the Volmer-Heyrovsky mechanism for HER.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 89389-89396 |
| Number of pages | 8 |
| Journal | RSC Adv. |
| Volume | 5 |
| Issue number | 109 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - 2015 |
Bibliographical note
KAUST Repository Item: Exported on 2020-10-01Acknowledgements: The authors thank Jain University, DST-SERB and DST Nanomission for financial support. We also wish to extend our gratitude to Dr Narayanappa Sivasankar, Riogen, Inc. catalysis for chemical and energy, South Jersey Technology Park, Mullica Hill, NJ 08062, USA 08852, for pre-review of the manuscript.