Heterointerface‐Driven Electronic Modulation in MoO<sub>2</sub>@N/Mo‒ReS<sub>2</sub> Hybrid for Efficient Alkaline HER, OER, and Overall Water Splitting
Manjinder Singh, Jaejun Park, Hayoung Kim, Gyuchan Kim, Dunchan Cha, Dasu Ram Paudel, Byung‐Hyun Kim, Seunghyun Lee
Abstract
Abstract Alkaline water electrolysis is an efficient technical pathway for producing high‐purity green hydrogen (H 2 ). However, rational design and fabrication of efficient electrocatalysts are essential for energy conversion. Herein, MoO 2 nanoclusters on N/Mo dual‐doped ReS 2 nanosheets (MoO 2 @N/Mo–ReS 2 ) develops through a hydrothermal and CVD‐nitridation process. This novel strategy leads to modifying the electronic properties of metastable ReS 2 through metal/nonmetal doping, heterostructure formation, and basal plane activation, thus increasing the number of electrochemically active sites. The MoO 2 @N/Mo–ReS 2 catalyst is effective at hydrogen‐adsorption, has a low energy barrier for water dissociation, and exhibits high electrical conductivity, as demonstrated by density functional theory (DFT) studies. The optimal MoO 2 @N/Mo–ReS 2 heterostructure shows exceptional endurance at low overpotentials of −93 and 249 mV, respectively, and catalytic activity for the evolution of both H 2 and oxygen (O 2 ) at a current density of 10 mA cm −2 in an alkaline electrolyte. The performance of the MoO 2 @N/Mo–ReS 2 electrolyzer is 1.54 V at 10 mA cm −2 , which is comparable to a commercial Pt/C||RuO 2 (1.56 V at 10 mA cm −2 ) electrocatalyst. This study offers a promising strategy for the development of scalable and efficient electrocatalysts, aiming to enhance their suitability for energy applications.