One-step construction of sulfide heterostructures with P doping for efficient hydrogen evolution

Abstract

Molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) exhibits the modest properties toward hydrogen evolution due to its poor electrical conductivity and a limited number of active sites. To make up for the defects in MoS2, we built hierarchical P-doped MoS2/NiS2@carbon hollow nanospheres (P–MoS/NiS@CHNS) electrocatalyst via one-step hydrothermal method owning to the priority of the reaction between Ni2+ and H2S. Motivated by high-efficient electron transfer at the interface of heterostructure and the activation of MoS2 by P dopant, P–MoS/NiS@CHNS exhibits optimal Gibbs free energies (ΔGH∗) and superior HER performance with low overpotential (ƞ10) of 110 ​mV ​at 10 ​mA ​cm−2 and small Tafel slope of 61 ​mV dec−1. The focus of this work is to optimize the HER performance of MoS2 through P-doping and heterostructure construction, which can further provide a reference for the design of MoS2 based catalysts.