Few-layered WSe2 nanoflowers anchored on graphene nanosheets: a highly efficient and stable electrocatalyst for hydrogen evolution

• DOI: 10.1016/j.electacta.2016.11.104
• Publication Date: 2016-11-18T19:47:27Z
• Authors: Xinqiang Wang; Yuanfu Chen; Binjie Zheng; Fei Qi; Jiarui He; Pingjian Li; Wanli Zhang
• Keywords: Selenide

Abstract Tungsten selenide (WSe 2 ) has emerged as a promising electrocatalyst for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER), and its HER performance strongly depends on its conductivity and exposed edge sites. Herein, a RGO/WSe 2 hybrid network constructed with few-layered WSe 2 nanoflowers anchored on graphene nanosheets has been synthesized through a facile one-pot solvothermal method. Compared with bare WSe 2 nanoflowers with relatively poor HER performance, the RGO/WSe 2 hybrid demonstrates a highly effective and stable electrocatalytic performance: it delivers a small Tafel slope of 57.6 mV dec −1 , a remarkably low onset potential of ∼ 150 mV, a high current density of 38.43 mA cm −2 at 300 mV vs RHE and excellent long-term stability. The superior HER performance of RGO/WSe 2 hybrid is attributed to the unique WSe 2 -anchored-on-graphene structure, which ensures the robust contact between the few-layered WSe 2 -nanoflowers catalyst and the highly conductive graphene matrix, leading to enhance the charge transfer kinetics between the catalytic edge sites and the graphene nanosheets. Therefore, the RGO/WSe 2 hybrid is promising as high-performance catalysts for hydrogen evolution applications.