Silver nanoparticles doped MoS2 flakes as highly efficient electrocatalyst for hydrogen evolution reaction

Hydrogen fuel-based economy has been a prime candidate for sustainable future. Hydrogen generation through water splitting is quite popular, and it has the potential to produce green hydrogen at a very low cost. The development of low-cost, high efficiency electrocatalysts is very important for water splitting processes. Hence, this paper focuses on a novel approach to develop low-cost silver (Ag) nanoparticles doped molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) electrocatalyst for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). The HER activity of pristine MoS2 nanostructures has also been tested to compare the results with Ag-MoS2 nanocomposites. The materials (MoS2, Ag-MoS2) have been synthesized using pulsed laser ablation in liquid, which is a sustainable technique to synthesize nanomaterials. The developed electrocatalysts have been characterized using various techniques such as scanning electron microscopy, energy dispersive x-ray spectroscopy, UV-Vis spectroscopy, and x-ray diffraction to know their morphology, optical properties, and structural properties. The electrochemical performance study was analyzed in a standard three electrode cell with 0.5M H2SO4. From electrochemical measurement study, it has been observed that Ag-MoS2 has an overpotential of 0.222 V, which is less than that of MoS2 nanosheets (0.274 V). The Tafel slope is also the least for Ag-MoS2 as compared to MoS2. The charge transfer resistance for Ag-MoS2 is 13.05 Ω, while MoS2 provides the resistance of 39.93 Ω. The developed Ag-MoS2 electrocatalyst may be a promising material to generate green hydrogen at the industrial scale.