Interface Modulation of MoS<sub>2</sub>/Metal Oxide Heterostructures for Efficient Hydrogen Evolution Electrocatalysis
Jue Hu, Chengxu Zhang, Yizhen Zhang, Baomin Yang, Qianglong Qi, Mingzi Sun, Futing Zi, Michael K.H. Leung, Bolong Huang
Abstract
Abstract Developing efficient earth‐abundant MoS 2 based hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) electrocatalysts is important but challenging due to the sluggish kinetics in alkaline media. Herein, a strategy to fabricate a high‐performance MoS 2 based HER electrocatalyst by modulating interface electronic structure via metal oxides is developed. All the heterostructure catalysts present significant improvement of HER electrocatalytic activities, demonstrating a positive role of metal oxides decoration in promoting the rate‐limited water dissociation step for the HER mechanism in alkaline media. The as‐obtained MoS 2 /Ni 2 O 3 H catalyst exhibits a low overpotential of 84 mV at 10 mA cm −2 and small charge‐transfer resistance of 1.5 Ω in 1 m KOH solution. The current density (217 mA cm −2 ) at the overpotential of 200 mV is about 2 and 24 times higher than that of commercial Pt/C and bare MoS 2 , respectively. Additionally, these MoS 2 /metal oxides heterostructure catalysts show outstanding long‐term stability under a harsh chronopotentiometry test. Theoretical calculations reveal the varied sensitivity of 3d‐band in different transition oxides, in which Ni‐3d of Ni 2 O 3 H is evidently activated to achieve fast electron transfer for HER as the electron‐depletion center. Both electronic properties and energetic reaction trends confirm the high electroactivity of MoS 2 /Ni 2 O 3 H in the adsorption and dissociation of H 2 O for highly efficient HER in alkaline media.