MoSe₂-GO/rGO Composite Catalyst for Hydrogen Evolution Reaction

There has been considerable research to engineer composites of transition metal dichalcogenides with other materials to improve their catalytic performance. In this work, we present a modified solution-processed method for the formation of molybdenum selenide (MoSe₂) nanosheets and a facile method of structuring composites with graphene oxide (GO) or reduced graphene oxide (rGO) at different ratios to prevent aggregation of the MoSe₂ nanosheets and hence improve their electrocatalytic hydrogen evolution reaction performance. The prepared GO, rGO, and MoSe₂ nanosheets were characterized by X-ray powder diffraction, Raman spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy, energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, and scanning electron microscopy. The electrocatalytic performance results showed that the pure MoSe₂ nanosheets exhibited a somewhat high Tafel slope of 80 mV/dec, whereas the MoSe₂-GO and MoSe₂-rGO composites showed lower Tafel slopes of 57 and 67 mV/dec at ratios of 6:4 and 4:6, respectively. We attribute the improved catalytic effects to the better contact and faster carrier transfer between the edge of MoSe₂ and the electrode due to the addition of GO or rGO.