Unraveling the morphology effect of kandite supporting MoS2 nanosheets for enhancing electrocatalytic hydrogen evolution

Abstract Recently, composite electrocatalysts integrating MoS2 nanosheets on supports have shown prospective electrochemical activity for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). The micro morphology of supports is one of vital factors to be considered for the design of composite electrocatalysts, and therefore the morphology effect of supports on the catalytic activity is necessary to be unraveled. Herein, MoS2 nanosheets were hydrothermally assembled on surfaces of kandite minerals with different morphologies of nanosheets, nanorods, and nanotubes, respectively. The composite electrocatalysts of kandite supporting MoS2 nanosheets exhibited excellent electrocatalytic activity for the HER, and the Tafel slope of MoS2 on kaolinite nanosheets (59 mV/dec) was lower than that on kaolinite nanorods and halloysite nanotubes. Kaolinite nanosheets presented superior morphology synergy with MoS2 nanosheets due to the similar two-dimensional structures. For one-dimensional supports, halloysite nanotubes had larger specific surface areas and the higher mass transport efficiency than kaolinite nanorods. This work provides novel insight into the role of support morphology played in the development of composite electrocatalysts for the HER.