In situ synthesis of heterogeneous NiSe2/MoSe2 nanocomposite for high-efficiency electrocatalytic hydrogen evolution reaction

Abstract

Developing high-efficiency electrocatalysts for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) has been considered as a crucial way to reduce energy loss in water-splitting. Herein, heterogeneous NiSe2/MoSe2 (H-NiSe2/MoSe2) nanocomposite constructed by metallic NiSe2 nanocrystallites embedded in few-layer MoSe2 nanosheets has been in situ synthesized by a simple hydrothermal reaction. As an HER electrocatalyst, it delivers superior performance with an ultra-small onset overpotential of 103 mV, a small overpotential of 147 mV at 10 mA cm−2, a low Tafel slope of 43.5 mV dec−1, and long-term stability up to 18 h in 0.5 M H2SO4. The superior performance for HER can be ascribed to the unique embedded nanostructure, which can not only improve the overall conductivity of the nanocomposite but also greatly increase the exposed active sites. Furthermore, the synergistic effect of NiSe2 and MoSe2 hybrid facilitates the rapid electrons transfer from the electrode to the exposed MoSe2 edges to take part in the HER reaction, and thus promotes the HER performance. This study provides a simple route for fabricating bi-metallic selenides-based nanocomposite as an efficient and stable electrocatalyst for HER.