Superior electrocatalysis for hydrogen evolution with crumpled graphene/tungsten disulfide/tungsten trioxide ternary nanohybrids

Transition metal dichalcogenide is a promising candidate for platinum-free electrocatalysts in renewable energy applications. In this work, we developed an aerosol processing method for facile and green synthesis of reduced graphene oxide (rGO)/tungsten disulfide (WS2)/tungsten trioxide (WO3) ternary nanohybrids. The resulting material has a spherical structure constructed by crumpled graphene and WS2/WO3 nanorods. The crumpled graphene/WS2/WO3 (CGTH) catalyst showed a superior electrocatalytic activity in the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER), with a Tafel slope of 37 mV/dec and an onset potential of 96 mV. Compared with reported MoS2/WS2-based electrocatalysts, this hybrid material shows one of the highest catalytic activities in HER. The environmentally-friendly synthesis and outstanding performance suggest a great potential of CGTH as noble metal-free electrocatalysts in water splitting.