Self-limited Conversion of MoO2 into ultramicro MoS2 nanosheets on graphene/CNTs matrix for hydrogen evolution with excellent stability

Current research of MoS2/graphene hybrids for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) reveals that it is still a huge challenge due to the restacking and the scarce of active sites. In this work, ultramicro MoS2 nanosheets with good dispersion and rich active sites are vertically grown on graphene via a self-limited growth strategy (S-MoS2). Moreover, the carbon nanotubers (CNTs) scaffolds can effectively limit the restacking of graphene and MoS2, accelerating the transport of electrons and electrolytes. The synergistic among the multi-function structures and compositions control can improve the electrochemical HER activity. The obtained S-MoS2/rGO/CNTs exhibits a low overpotential of 159 mV (V vs RHE) at 10 mA cm−2 and a small Tafel slope of 85 mV/dec in 0.5 M H2SO4. Moreover, the S-MoS2/rGO/CNTs shows excellent electrochemical durability at 10 mA cm−2 for 18 h. This work supplies a fresh strategy to design high-performance and cost-effective MoS2-based catalyst for the HER.