NiMoS3 Nanorods as pH-Tolerant Electrocatalyst for Efficient Hydrogen Evolution

To meet the increasing demands for sustainable and clean hydrogen energy sources, development of pH-tolerant electrocatalysts with high-performance and low-cost toward hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) is an important but challenging task. MoS2 is postulated as a promising candidate for HER in acidic solution, however, showing poor activity in alkaline media. Herein, to widen its application in various media, we first report the synthesis of NiMoS3 nanorods using a hydrothermal method that starts from NiMoO4 nanorods. The incorporation of Ni atoms in Mo–S could arouse the synergism of ternary Ni–Mo–S and create abundant defect sites, thus substantially improving the inherent catalytic activity and catalytic sites. More importantly, Ni endows Mo–S with excellent catalytic activity in alkaline solution. As a result, NiMoS3 exhibits large cathodic current, low overpotetnial, and stable durability for HER in H2SO4 and especially in KOH. The overpotetnial at current density of 10 mA cm–2 is as low as 126 mV in KOH, making it a promising candidate for HER electrocatalyst.