Bottom-Up Strategy Toward 3D Porous MXene/MoS2 Nanosheets/Graphene Nanoarchitectures as Highly-Efficient Hydrogen Evolution Electrocatalysts

Abstract

As a core component in the electrochemical water splitting system, the cathode catalyst is capable of boosting the kinetics of the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER), while the scarcity and expenditure of current noble metal-based electrocatalysts seriously restrict the large-scale commercial development of hydrogen manufacturing devices. Here, we present a robust and controllable self-assembly method for the spatial construction of three-dimensional (3D) porous ternary nanoarchitectures comprising Ti3C2Tx MXene, MoS2 nanosheets, and graphene (MX/MoS2/G). This bottom-up strategy contributes to the intriguing structural features of the resulting nanoarchitectures, including 3D crosslinked porous networks, ultrathin walls, plentiful exposed reactive sites, and numerous efficient electron channels. As a consequence, the optimized MX/MoS2/G electrocatalyst depicts superior electrocatalytic HER performance in terms of a competitive onset potential, a small Tafel slope, a large electrochemically active surface area, and exceptional durability, which significantly outperforms the bare MXene, MoS2, graphene, as well as binary MXene/graphene and MoS2/graphene electrocatalysts.