Layered rhenium sulfide on free-standing three-dimensional electrodes is highly catalytic for the hydrogen evolution reaction: Experimental and theoretical study

• ReS2 catalyst shows dramatic improvement when compared to MoS2.
• 3D ReS2/carbon foam electrodes are used.
• DFT calculations show that ReS2 possesses metallic character of surface states.

Hydrogen evolution reaction is the key for clean energy utilization. Recently, molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) was suggested as a replacement for the most efficient catalyst to date for such reaction, which is platinum. We show here that electrodes based on layered rhenium sulfide (ReS2) catalyst show dramatic improvement when compared to MoS2. We have shown by DFT calculations that ReS2 possesses metallic character of surface states which together with a higher position of Fermi level facilitates electron transfer and pronounced electrochemical activity of this surface. ReS2 has great potential for hydrogen evolution reaction applications.

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