Construction of a highly efficient MoS2-based composite electrocatalyst for the oxygen evolution reaction†

Abstract

Molybdenum disulfide (MoS₂) has great potential for the catalysis of the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) due to its suitable valence band edge. However, the high adsorption energy barriers of the key intermediates *OH and *OOH at the catalytic sites severely limit its catalytic activity. In this research, we designed a carboxyl-decorated MoC@MoS₂ composite (CC-MoC@MoS₂) electrocatalyst for OER, in which the S sites of MoS₂ provide effective adsorption of the two intermediates. The optimized CC-MoC@MoS₂ could catalyze OER rapidly and stably, reaching current densities of 10, 50 and 100 mA cm⁻² in alkaline medium at overpotentials of 248, 307 and 359 mV, respectively.