Hydrogen evolution of a MoS2/AOCF electrocatalyst doped with Ni element

Abstract

Efficiency and stability are the key factors of MoS₂ electrocatalysts. Herein, a MoS₂ complex (Ni@MoS₂/AOCF) was successfully prepared by amidoximized polyacrylonitrile (AOCF) coordination and Ni doping. Impressively, the as-synthesized Ni@MoS₂/AOCF electrocatalyst exhibited satisfying hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) performance with a low onset potential (116 mV) and small Tafel slope (54.8 mV dec⁻¹). The structure and performance characterizations indicate that MoS₂ grow epitaxially on AOCF via coordination bonds formed between Mo and –OH and –NH₂ of AOCF, and the strong bonding effect endows MoS₂/AOCF with numerous active sites and excellent stability. Besides, the conductivity of MoS₂/AOCF is obviously improved by Ni element doping and finally results in superior HER performance in acidic solutions.