ReS2/CoS heterostructure catalysts for electrochemical application in hydrogen evolution and supercapacitor

Abstract

Development of Nano-heterostructures based on transition metal chalcogenides is promising strategy to accelerate the catalytic performance for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and supercapacitor application. The design and development of non-noble transition metal based catalysts is required for the low-cost, efficient and earth-abundant electrodes for sustainable energy conversion and storage. ReS2/CoS heterostructures were synthesized by two step methods involving liquid phase exfoliation of ReS2 and hydrothermal decoration of CoS. The prepared ReS2/CoS heterostructures shows high performance supercapacitor applications with specific capacitance of 663.2 F/g at 2 A/g and 643.1 F/g at scan rate 5 mV/s, showing enhanced redox reaction and number of electrochemically active sites due to synergistic effect and modulated electronic structure. Additionally, ReS2/CoS heterostructures shows the superior HER performance in alkaline condition with overpotential of 187 mV at 10 mA/cm2 due to accelerated kinetics, enhanced ECSA and low charge transfer resistance. The ReS2/CoS heterostructures shows the stable electrochemical performance for HER for more than 17 h.