Facile Synthesis of In–Situ Nitrogenated Graphene Decorated by Few–Layer MoS2 for Hydrogen Evolution Reaction

•In–situ nitrogenated graphene–few layer MoS2 composites are fabricated by combinating chemical and hydrothermal co-reduction.•The resulting MoS2/N–rGO–HA exhibits high activity and remarkable stability for HER.•The excellent electro-catalytic performance is ascribed to the synergistic effects, confinement effects and highly dispersed MoS2 nanosheets on N-doping rGO.

A facile one–step synthetic strategy by combinating chemical and hydrothermal reduction of graphene oxide and Mo precursor is proposed to fabricate in–situ nitrogenated graphene–few layer MoS2 composite (MoS2/N–rGO–HA) for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). The N–doping graphene nanosheets and highly dispersed MoS2 nanosheets by ammonia and hydrozine as co–reductant have greatly promoted the N content, concentrations of pyridinic and graphitic N, the electron transport in electrodes, and assure high catalytic efficiency. The MoS2/N–rGO–HA composite exhibits extremely high activity in acidic solutions with a small onset potential of 100 mV and Tafel slope of 45 mV/dec, as well as a current density about 32.4 mA cm−2 at overpotential about 0.2 V. Moreover, such MoS2/N–rGO–HA electroncatalyst also shows an excellent stability during 1000 cycles with negligible loss of the cathodic current. This facile hydrothermal method could provide a promising strategy for the synthesis of in–situ nitrogen–doping graphene sheets and few–layer MoS2 composites in large scale towards promising alternative catalyst for platinum–based HER electrocatalysts.

Graphical abstractIn–situ nitrogenated graphene–few layer MoS2 composites are fabricated by combinating chemical and hydrothermal reduction. The resulting MoS2/N–rGO–HA by N2H4·H2O and NH3·H2O as co-reductant exhibits high activity and remarkable stability for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). The excellent electro-catalytic performance is ascribed to the synergistic effects, confinement effects and highly dispersed MoS2 nanosheets on N-doping rGO.Figure optionsDownload full-size imageDownload as PowerPoint slide