Toggle Main Menu Toggle Search

Open Access padlockePrints

Engineering composition and structure of binder-free MoS2 anchored to carbon cloth for enhanced hydrogen evolution performance

Lookup NU author(s): Professor Lidija SillerORCiD

Downloads


Licence

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0).


Abstract

Molybdenum disulphide (MoS2) has received enormous attention as an alternative to noble metal based electrocatalysts for efficient H production through water splitting. However, the limited number of active sites and low inherent electrical conductivity hinder the performance of bulk MoS2 for electrocatalytic applications. Using hydrothermal synthesis, binder-free electrodes consisting of nano-crystalline MoS2 anchored to carbon cloth (CC) have been produced, for which synthesis temperature has been shown to have a significant impact on electrocatalytic behaviour. Increasing synthesis temperature is found to reduce MoS2 sub-stoichiometry, reduce oxide content and increase crystallinity. Optimal performance is achieved for electrodes produced at intermediate synthesis temperatures (230 °C) which show an overpotential of 98 ± 3 mV to reach a current density of 10 mA cm−2 and a Tafel slope of 108 ± 5 mV dec−1. Samples grown under these conditions possess the best combination of active site concentration, morphology and proportion of metallic 1T MoS2 for an enhanced Hydrogen Evolution Reaction (HER) activity. These results reflect the need to consider the interplay of elemental composition, phase composition and structure in engineering HER catalysts and provides an effective route to tune the electrocatalytic activity of layered MoS2 based catalysts for optimised HER performance.


Publication metadata

Author(s): Faisal MM, Siller L, Hunt MRC

Publication type: Article

Publication status: Published

Journal: Electrochimica Acta

Year: 2025

Volume: 538

Pages:

Print publication date: 20/10/2025

Online publication date: 14/07/2025

Acceptance date: 29/06/2025

Date deposited: 22/07/2025

ISSN (print): 0013-4686

ISSN (electronic): 1873-3859

Publisher: Elsevier

URL: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.electacta.2025.146809

DOI: 10.1016/j.electacta.2025.146809

Data Access Statement: Data will be made available on request.


Altmetrics

Altmetrics provided by Altmetric


Funding

Funder referenceFunder name
EP/S023836/1EPSRC

Share