Electric-Field-Assisted Synthesis of Cu/MoS2 Nanostructures for Efficient Hydrogen Evolution Reaction

Surra Yonas; Birhanu Bayissa Gicha; Samir Adhikari; Fedlu Kedir Sabir; Van Tan Tran; Njemuwa Nwaji; Bedasa Abdisa Gonfa; Lemma Teshome Tufa

doi:10.3390/mi15040495

Electric-Field-Assisted Synthesis of Cu/MoS₂ Nanostructures for Efficient Hydrogen Evolution Reaction

Micromachines (Basel). 2024 Apr 3;15(4):495. doi: 10.3390/mi15040495.

Authors

Surra Yonas¹, Birhanu Bayissa Gicha², Samir Adhikari³, Fedlu Kedir Sabir¹, Van Tan Tran⁴, Njemuwa Nwaji⁵, Bedasa Abdisa Gonfa¹, Lemma Teshome Tufa^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Applied Chemistry, Adama Science and Technology University, Adama P.O. Box 1888, Ethiopia.
² Research Institute of Materials Chemistry, Chungnam National University, Daejeon 34134, Republic of Korea.
³ Department of Physics, Chungnam National University, Daejeon 34134, Republic of Korea.
⁴ Faculty of Biotechnology, Chemistry and Environmental Engineering, Phenikaa University, Hanoi 10000, Vietnam.
⁵ Institute of Fundamental Technological Research, Polish Academy of Sciences, 02-106 Warsaw, Poland.

Abstract

Molybdenum sulfide-oxide (MoS₂, MS) emerges as the prime electrocatalyst candidate demonstrating hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) activity comparable to platinum (Pt). This study presents a facile electrochemical approach for fabricating a hybrid copper (Cu)/MoS₂ (CMS) nanostructure thin-film electrocatalyst directly onto nickel foam (NF) without a binder or template. The synthesized CMS nanostructures were characterized utilizing energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and electrochemical methods. The XRD result revealed that the Cu metal coating on MS results in the creation of an extremely crystalline CMS nanostructure with a well-defined interface. The hybrid nanostructures demonstrated higher hydrogen production, attributed to the synergistic interplay of morphology and electron distribution at the interface. The nanostructures displayed a significantly low overpotential of -149 mV at 10 mA cm^-2 and a Tafel slope of 117 mV dec^-1, indicating enhanced catalytic activity compared to pristine MoS₂.This research underscores the significant enhancement of the HER performance and conductivity achieved by CMS, showcasing its potential applications in renewable energy.

Keywords: Cu/MoS2 nanostructures; catalytic activity; electrodeposition; hydrogen evolution reactions.

Grants and funding

This research was supported by the Brain Pool program funded by the Ministry of Science and ICT through the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF-2021H1D3A2A01099457, 2022H1D3A2A01093556) and the Research and Technology Transfer Office, Adama Science and Technology University (ASTU/AS-R/063/2023).