One-pot synthesis of nanosheet-assembled hierarchical MoSe2/CoSe2 microcages for the enhanced performance of electrocatalytic hydrogen evolution

C. H. Mu; H. X. Qi; Y. Q. Song; Z. P. Liu; L. X. Ji; J. G. Deng; Y. B. Liao; F. Scarpa

doi:10.1039/C5RA21638A

One-pot synthesis of nanosheet-assembled hierarchical MoSe₂/CoSe₂ microcages for the enhanced performance of electrocatalytic hydrogen evolution†

C. H. Mu,‡^a H. X. Qi,‡^ab Y. Q. Song,*^a Z. P. Liu,*^b L. X. Ji,^b J. G. Deng,^b Y. B. Liao^a and F. Scarpa^c

* Corresponding authors

^a School of Energy Science and Engineering, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu 610054, China
E-mail: yuanqiangsong@uestc.edu.cn

^b Institute of Chemical Materials, China Academy of Engineering Physics (CAEP), Mianyang 621900, China
E-mail: zhongpingliu0816@gmail.com

^c Bristol Centre for Nanoscience and Quantum Information, University of Bristol, BS8 1TR Bristol, UK

Abstract

Highly active noble metal-free hydrogen evolution catalysts are critical for the development of more energy and cost-efficient hydrogen production. We report for the first time a novel nanosheet-assembled tube-like hierarchical MoSe₂/CoSe₂ microcage synthesized via a very simple and facile one-pot hydrothermal method for the electrocatalytic hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). The hierarchical structure of the MoSe₂/CoSe₂ microcage can be easily tuned by merely varying the Mo/Co ratio. Compared against pure MoSe₂ and CoSe₂ nano compounds synthesized by following the same procedure, the MoSe₂/CoSe₂ with an optimized composition shows a significantly enhanced HER activity, with a much lower onset of overpotential, larger cathodic current, and a smaller Tafel slope. The HER improvement is attributed to the increase in conductivity originating from the hierarchical tube-like structure, as well as by the nano defects induced by the Mo/Co synergic effect. This work opens a new class of nanomaterials for the development of an efficient hybrid HER catalyst.

This article is part of the themed collection: 2D Materials: Explorations Beyond Graphene

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Article information

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1039/C5RA21638A
Article type: Paper
Submitted: 16 Oct 2015
Accepted: 12 Dec 2015
First published: 15 Dec 2015
This article is Open Access

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RSC Adv., 2016,6, 23-30

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One-pot synthesis of nanosheet-assembled hierarchical MoSe₂/CoSe₂ microcages for the enhanced performance of electrocatalytic hydrogen evolution

C. H. Mu, H. X. Qi, Y. Q. Song, Z. P. Liu, L. X. Ji, J. G. Deng, Y. B. Liao and F. Scarpa, RSC Adv., 2016, 6, 23 DOI: 10.1039/C5RA21638A

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