Synthesis of MoWS2 on Flexible Carbon-Based Electrodes for High-Performance Hydrogen Evolution Reaction

Abstract

We directly synthesize MoWS2 nanosheets on conductive carbon nanotube yarn (MoWS2/CNTY) and carbon fiber cloth (MoWS2/CC) through a fast and low-temperature thermolysis method to obtain flexible catalyst electrodes that show high performance in the hydrogen evolution reaction. Small Tafel slopes of 41.8 and 46.7 mV dec(-1) are achieved for MoWS2/CC and MoWS2/CNTY, respectively, by optimizing the density of the exposed active edge sites of vertically aligned MoWS2 on CNTY and CC. Furthermore, the catalyst electrodes demonstrate good electrocatalytic stability over 36 h. The proposed technique for fabricating high-performance, binder-free, and flexible catalyst electrodes is more accessible and faster than conventional methods.