Vanadium doped few-layer ultrathin MoS2 nanosheets on reduced graphene oxide for high-performance hydrogen evolution reaction

Abstract

In this paper, we demonstrate a facile solvothermal synthesis of a vanadium(V) doped MoS₂-rGO nanocomposites for highly efficient electrochemical hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) at room temperature. The surface morphology, crystallinity and elemental composition of the as-synthesized material have been thoroughly analyzed. Its fascinating morphology propelled us to investigate the electrochemical performance towards the HER. The results show that it exhibits excellent catalytic activity with a low onset potential of 153 mV versus reversible hydrogen electrode (RHE), a small Tafel slope of 71 mV dec⁻¹, and good stability over 1000 cycles under acidic conditions. The polarization curve after the 1000^th cycle suggests there has been a decrement of less than 5% in current density with a minor change in onset potential. The synergistic effects of V-doping at S site in MoS₂ NSs leading to multiple active sites and effective electron transport route provided by the conductive rGO contribute to the high activity for the hydrogen evolution reaction. The development of a high-performance catalyst may encourage the effective application of the as-synthesized V-doped MoS₂-rGO as a promising electrocatalyst for hydrogen production.