Synergistic Effect of MoS2 Nanosheets and VS2 for the Hydrogen Evolution Reaction with Enhanced Humidity-Sensing Performance

As a typical transition-metal dichalcogenides, MoS2 has been a hotspot of research in many fields. In this work, the MoS2 nanosheets were compounded on 1T-VS2 nanoflowers (VS2@MoS2) successfully by a two-step hydrothermal method for the first time, and their hydrogen evolution properties were studied mainly. The higher charge-transfer efficiency benefiting from the metallicity of VS2 and the greater activity due to more exposed active edge sites of MoS2 improve the hydrogen evolution reaction performance of the nanocomposite electrocatalyst. Adsorption and transport of an intermediate hydrogen atom by VS2 also enhances the hydrogen evolution efficiency. The catalyst shows a low onset potential of 97 mV, a Tafel slope as low as 54.9 mV dec–1, and good stability. Combining the electric conductivity of VS2 with the physicochemical stability of MoS2, VS2@MoS2 also exhibits excellent humidity properties.