Balancing hydrogen adsorption/desorption on MoS2 by Co, V dual-doping for efficient hydrogen evolution reaction

Herein, we report the rational balancing of hydrogen adsorption/desorption dynamics by employing a synergistic Co and V dual-doping strategy to enhance the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) performance of MoS 2 . The Co and V dual-doping MoS 2 (Co, V-MoS 2 ) was successfully synthesized in situ on carbon cloth (CC) substrates via a one-pot hydrothermal route, and the XRD, Raman, TEM, XPS, EDS and ICP characterizations validate the substitutional doping of Co and V into the MoS 2 lattice. The optimized Co, V-MoS 2 /CC exhibits significantly enhanced HER performance, requiring only 220.0 mV overpotential to reach −100 mA/cm 2 with a 61.9 mV/dec Tafel slope, surpassing both the Co/V mono-doped MoS 2 /CC and undoped MoS 2 /CC. Moreover, the polarization curve of Co, V-MoS 2 /CC exhibits a negligible potential decay of 8.4 mV at 50 mA/cm 2 after 3000 repeated cyclic voltammogram cycles, demonstrating superior durability. DFT calculations reveal that synergistic Co and V dual-doping in MoS 2 can balance the hydrogen adsorption/desorption kinetics at S sites near dopants, thereby optimizing the hydrogen adsorption free energy and accelerating the charge transfer, thus achieving far super HER performance. Our balancing hydrogen adsorption/desorption strategy enabled by Co, V dual-doping provides a promising avenue for improving the HER performance of TMDs-based electrocatalysts.