Self-supported MoSx/V2O3 heterostructures as efficient hybrid catalysts for hydrogen evolution reaction

Earth-abundant and low-cost hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) electrocatalysts represent a future direction for achieving sustainable hydrogen energy production. Low-cost amorphous molybdenum sulfides (MoS x ), with their highly active HER activity, have emerged as outstanding catalysts for electrochemical hydrogen production. Herein, we report the development of a synergetic amorphous MoS x hybrid catalysts on V 2 O 3 with optimized HER activity of MoS x . Our synthetic and structural characterization shows that MoS x distributes on V 2 O 3 uniformly. HER-inert V 2 O 3 provides a highly electrochemically active surface area for HER and promotes electron transport . The obtained hybrid MoS x /V 2 O 3 /CC catalyst exhibits a low overpotential of 146 mV at 10 mA cm −2 toward HER under acidic conditions, which is comparable with the current advanced catalysts, and high stability with no significant changes over 10 h of electrolysis. The density functional theory calculations also demonstrate that the interface of V 2 O 3 and MoS x helps to improve the conductivity.