Silver Nanocluster/MoS2 Heterostructures for Hydrogen Evolution

Abstract

Efficient water splitting through electrocatalysis is one of the most well-accomplished strategies for hydrogen generation. Herein, we design a heterostructure of silver nanoclusters (Ag NCs) coupled with molybdenum disulfide nanoflowers (MoS2 NFs) for electrocatalytic hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). The performance of the hydrogen generation reaction of the Ag/MoS2 heterostructure is 2.3 times higher in comparison to bare MoS2 NFs in acidic media with an early onset potential of −0.09 V vs a reversible hydrogen electrode (RHE) along with a higher current density of 98 mA/cm2 at a potential of 0.43 V vs RHE. The enhanced HER performance is due to the amplified charge-transfer kinetics resulting from electronic interactions between Ag NCs and MoS2 NFs. Lowering the charge-transfer resistance (Rct) in the Ag/MoS2 heterostructure promotes HER kinetics by accelerating the charge-transfer process at the electrode/electrolyte interface. Spectroscopic studies also reveal significant electronic interactions between Ag NCs and MoS2 NFs at the cluster/MoS2 interface. This work explicitly focuses on the pivotal role of Ag NCs in elevating the HER activity due to the facile electronic interactions with MoS2 NFs. It presents an avenue for developing metal nanoclusters coupled with semiconducting materials for HER.