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Few-layered ReS2 nanosheets grown on graphene as electrocatalyst for hydrogen evolution reaction

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Abstract

Few-layered ReS2 two-dimensional (2D) semiconductor nanosheets directly nucleated and grown on reduced graphene oxide (RGO) were synthesized through a facile hydrothermal method. Compared with bare ReS2, the ReS2/RGO hybrid delivers much better electrocatalytic activity for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) in acidic media. It exhibits a lower Tafel slope of 107.4 mV·dec−1 and a larger current density of − 5.2 mA·cm−2 at − 250 mV (vs. RHE), compared with ReS2 (152.7 mV·dec−1, − 3.1 mA·cm−2). The ReS2/RGO hybrid has a unique architecture constructed by highly conductive and porous RGO internetworks, which guarantees easy electrolyte infiltration and efficient charge transfer and provides sufficient active edge sites, resulting in enhanced HER performance. The present synthesis approach can be extended to synthesize other 2D-semiconductor-based composites for energy storage and catalytic devices.

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Acknowledgements

This work was financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 51372033), the National High Technology Research and Development Program of China (No. 2015AA034202) and the Program of the Ministry of Education of China for Introducing Talents of Discipline to Universities (No. B13042).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Electronic Thin Films and Integrated Devices, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, 610054, China

    Han Gao, Hu-Hu Yue, Bo Yu, Wan-Li Zhang & Yuan-Fu Chen

  2. School of Optoelectronic Engineering, Chongqing University of Posts and Telecommunications, Chongqing, 400065, China

    Fei Qi

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  1. Han Gao
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  2. Hu-Hu Yue
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  3. Fei Qi
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  4. Bo Yu
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Correspondence to Yuan-Fu Chen.

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Gao, H., Yue, HH., Qi, F. et al. Few-layered ReS2 nanosheets grown on graphene as electrocatalyst for hydrogen evolution reaction. Rare Met. 37, 1014–1020 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12598-018-1121-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12598-018-1121-z

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