Promising water splitting applications of synergistically assembled robust orthorhombic CoSe2 and 2D Ti3C2Tx MXene hybrid

Abstract

In prospect to the unrelenting energy demand, the hunt for clean,green, sustainable and renewable energy sources has been the focal research area in the fast few decades. Hydrogen energy can be an impeccable substitute for non-renewable fossil fuels and the concern of energy crunch can be circumvented. The production of oxygen and hydrogen from water electrolysis (otherwise known as hydrogen evolution reaction-HER and oxygen evolution reaction-OER, the half-cell reactions) is one of the most clean and green energy productions. Cost-effective, noble metal free, efficient and robust electrocatalysts are needed to address the aforementioned stumbling. Herein, we have synergistically designed a robust-interface involving orthorhombic CoSe2 nanorods and two dimensional Ti3C2Tx MXene sheets for promising overall water splitting application. The above-mentioned catalyst was characterized comprehensively through XRD, FESEM, EDAX, HRTEM, XPS and BET surface area analysis. In terms of electrocatalytic activity, the catalyst performance was incredible in both HER and OER. The amalgamated catalyst exhibited a rapid charge transfer kinetic metrics and attained an overpotential of 230 mV and 65 mV/dec of Tafel value for effectual HER application whereas for OER, the catalyst revealed 270 mV of overpotential and 71 mV/dec of Tafel slope at 10 mA/cm2. In both cases the catalyst withstands a long-term stability test for more than 12 h and the after-stability polarization curves just matched with the before stability LSV curves conveying the idea of the robustness of the material. We hope this catalyst can be turned out to be a frontier in the field of energy conversion owing to its better charge transfer characteristics, lager surface area, ample electrochemical active sites and high hydrogen binding along with high dissociations which can be ascribed to the synergistic effect.