Microwave-assisted dispersant-induced uniform loading of 1T/2H phase MoS 2 onto CNTs for hydrogen evolution reaction

Abstract Uniform loading of MoS2 onto carbon nanotubes (CNTs) is expected to promote the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) efficiency, as the incorporation of CNTs can greatly improve the conductivity of the composites while increasing the exposure of active sites. However, it still lacks a facile and convenient method to achieve this goal. In this work, CNT@MoS2 composite with uniform core@shell structure was prepared by a dispersant-induced strategy. An adenine-derived dispersant (DSiA) containing reactive silanol groups (Si–OH) was used and played a key role in the generation of CNT@MoS2. DSiA not only made CNTs uniformly dispersed in water, but also functioned as a bridge, providing coordinate sites for the in-situ growth of MoS2 on CNTs. Microwave-assisted hydrothermal synthesis route was adopted to generate 1T-MoS2 to promote the catalytic activity. Experimental result reveals that the 1T phase accounts for about 67% of total MoS2. The composite shows an overpotential of 236 mV for HER at the current density of 10 mA/cm2 (η10), with a Tafel slope of 80 mV/dec in 0.5 mol/L H2SO4. Carbon cloth that loaded with MoS2 and CNTs (CC/CNT/MoS2) was also prepared in the presence of DSiA while without any other binder, and the flexible electrode shows an η10 value of 219 mV. This work provides an innovative strategy for the fabrication of composite electrode for electrocatalytic applications.