Net-like molybdenum selenide–acetylene black supported on Ni foam for high-performance supercapacitor electrodes and hydrogen evolution reaction

•Net-like MoSe2–acetylene black composite was in situ prepared on Ni foam.•The composite was used for supercapacitor and hydrogen evolution reaction.•Microstructures and electrochemical properties of the electrodes were evaluated.•The composite exhibited good performances.

Three-dimensional (3D) transition metal dichalcogenides-based nanostructures composed of nanosheets have recently attracted significant interest for energy storage devices such as supercapacitors and lithium-ion batteries. Herein, a facile hydrothermal strategy is applied to prepare net-like MoSe2–acetylene black (AB), tailoring the interior structure by Ni substrate. The 3D MoSe2–AB nanostructures constructed with MoSe2 ultrathin nanosheets are applied as supercapacitors electrode materials. As expected, the net-like MoSe2–AB composites exhibit a high specific capacitance (2020 F g−1 at 1 A g−1) and good cycling stability (107.5% after 1500 cycles) due to their unique architecture. The MoSe2–AB composites also show highly electrocatalytic ability for hydrogen evolution reaction (0.08 V of onset potential and ∼55 mV dec−1 of Tafel slope). The developed method can be extended to the preparation of other MoSe2-based materials and used in other applications, such as sensors, Li-ion battery or oxygen reduction reaction.