Rational design of MoSe2-rGO-CNTs flower-like heterostructures for efficient acidic hydrogen evolution

The development of transition metal-based catalysts for hydrogen evolution reaction with high active and stable performance is becoming an important means to reduce the energy consumption and cost of hydrogen products. In this paper, a two-step adding hydrothermal approach is conducted to manufacture 3D flower-like heteronanostructures composed of MoSe 2 -rGO-CNTs for the efficient electrocatalysis for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) by acid medium hydrolysis. The physical structures and chemical compositions of the heteronanostructures were characterized with several techniques such as scanning electron microscope (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Raman spectroscopy, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The heterostructures of the flower-like MoSe 2 -rGO-CNTs are formulated by in situ combination of the monolayer rGO-CNTs and MoSe 2 crystals, where the excellent quality transverse heterostructures can boost the electrons transferring from the monolayer rGO-CNTs interfaces to the MoSe 2 crystals, accomplishing the electronic deployment of MoSe 2 -rGO-CNTs heterostructures for prominent electrocatalytic performance. After optimization, the as-synthesized MoSe 2 -rGO-CNTs heterostructures catalyst exhibited an excellent electrocatalytic activity in 0.5 M H 2 SO 4 solution with an overpotential of 206 mV at the current density of 10 mA·cm −2 and a Tafel slope of 46.74 mV·dec −1 for HER reaction. The optimal MoSe 2 -rGO-CNTs heteronanostructures display an excellent HER electrocatalytic activity and superior long-term durability in an acidic medium. Graphical Abstract