Synthesis and hydrogen evolution reaction of nanosized Ag - ZnO coated MoS2

Abstract

In this paper, Ag–ZnO and Ag–MoS2–ZnO were successfully synthesized by hydrothermal method. The synthesized samples' physical properties were characterized by FESEM, XRD, TEM, EDS and BET. The catalytic activity of the synthesized samples for the hydrogen evolution reaction was investigated by an electrochemical workstation in 0.1 M KOH. XRD results indicate that 5% Ag-5% MoS2–ZnO with good crystallinity and purity is synthesized. According to the SEM results, Ag and ZnO are evenly distributed on the MoS2 nanosheets in the 5% Ag-5% MoS2–ZnO. LSV results show that adding Ag or MoS2 to ZnO can improve its catalytic activity. 5% Ag - ZnO had the best hydrogen evolution activity, and the overpotential was 568 mV. The catalytic activity of ZnO doped with Ag and MoS2 is higher than ZnO doped with Ag or MoS2 alone for hydrogen evolution reaction, this is mainly due to the synergy of heterojunction and Ag.