Preparation and Study of thin Films of Tungsten Selenides for Electrocatalytic Hydrogen Evolution

Thin films of tungsten selenides (WSex) were obtained by using a method of shadow-masked pulsed laser deposition. The deposition at room temperature of substrates caused the formation of Se-enriched amorphous films (Se/W∼5) with pronounced surface roughness because of an effective nanoparticle growth. Heating or DC biasing the substrate during the deposition modified the film composition (Se/W∼1.7 - 4) and resulted in the smoothing of the film surface. Annealing the films, deposited at room temperature, as well as heating the substrate during the deposition caused crystallization of the films. Catalytic activity of WSex thin films in hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) was studied in 0.5 M H2SO4 aqueous solution at room temperature. The structural state and the chemical composition of WSex films had an expressed impact on the catalytic activity. A significant improvement in HER activity was observed in the case of Se-enriched films deposition followed by annealing at 500 °C.