Electrochemical hydrogen evolution efficiently boosted by interfacial charge redistribution in Ru/MoSe2 embedded mesoporous hollow carbon spheres

The strong metal-support interaction inducing combined effect plays a crucial role in the catalysis reaction. Herein, we revealed that the combined advantages of MoSe₂, Ru, and hollow carbon spheres in the form of Ru nanoparticles (NPs) anchored on a two-dimensionally ordered MoSe₂ nanosheet-embedded mesoporous hollow carbon spheres surface (Ru/MoSe₂@MHCS) for the largely boosted hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) performance. The combined advantages from the conductive support, oxyphilic MoSe₂, and Ru active sites imparted a strong synergistic effect and charge redistribution in the Ru periphery which induced high catalytic activity, stability, and kinetics for HER. Specifically, the obtained Ru/MoSe₂@MHCS required a small overpotential of 25.5 and 38.4 mV to drive the kinetic current density of 10 mA cm⁻² both in acid and alkaline media, respectively, which was comparable to that of the Pt/C catalyst. Experimental and theoretical results demonstrated that the charge transfer from MoSe₂ to Ru NPs enriched the electronic density of Ru sites and thus facilitated hydrogen adsorption and water dissociation. The current work showed the significant interfacial engineering in Ru-based catalysts development and catalysis promotion effect understanding via the metal-support interaction.