Bottom‐Up Synthesized MoS2 Interfacing Polymer Carbon Nanodots with Electrocatalytic Activity for Hydrogen Evolution

Abstract The preparation of an MoS 2 –polymer carbon nanodot (MoS 2 ‐PCND) hybrid material was accomplished by employing an easy and fast bottom‐up synthetic approach. Specifically, MoS 2 ‐PCND was realized by the thermal decomposition of ammonium tetrathiomolybdate and the in situ complexation of Mo with carboxylic acid units present on the surface of PCNDs. The newly prepared hybrid material was comprehensively characterized by spectroscopy, thermal means, and electron microscopy. The electrocatalytic activity of MoS 2 ‐PCND was examined in the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and compared with that of the corresponding hybrid material prepared by a top‐down approach, namely MoS 2 ‐PCND(exf‐fun), in which MoS 2 was firstly exfoliated and then covalently functionalized with PCNDs. The MoS 2 ‐PCND hybrid material showed superior electrocatalytic activity toward the HER with low Tafel slope, excellent electrocatalytic stability, and an onset potential of −0.16 V versus RHE. The superior catalytic performance of MoS 2 ‐PCND was rationalized by considering the catalytically active sites of MoS 2 , the effective charge/energy‐transfer phenomena from PCNDs to MoS 2 , and the synergetic effect between MoS 2 and PCNDs in the hybrid material.