Effective Hydrogen Production from Alkaline and Natural Seawater using WO_3-x@CdS_1-x Nanocomposite-Based...

Offshore hydrogen production through water electrolysis presents significant technical and economic challenges. Achieving an efficient hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) in alkaline and natural seawater environments remains daunting due to the sluggish kinetics of water dissociation. To address this issue, we synthesized electrocatalytic WO_3-x@CdS_1-x nanocomposites (WCSNCs) using ultrasonic-assisted laser irradiation. The synthesized WCSNCs with varying CdS contents were thoroughly characterized to investigate their structural, morphological, and electrochemical properties. Among the samples tested, the WCSNCs with 20 wt % CdS_1-x in WO_3-x (W_x@S_x-20%) exhibited superior electrocatalytic performance for hydrogen evolution in a 1 M KOH solution. Specifically, the W_x@S_x-20% catalyst demonstrated an overpotential of 0.191 V at a current density of -10 mA/cm² and a Tafel slope of 61.9 mV/dec. The W_x@S_x-20% catalysts demonstrated outstanding stability and durability, maintaining their performance after 24 h and up to 1000 CV cycles. Notably, when subjected to natural seawater electrolysis, the W_x@S_x-20% catalysts outperformed in terms of electrocatalytic HER activity and stability. The remarkable performance enhancement of the prepared electrocatalyst can be attributed to the combined effect of sulfur vacancies in CdS_1-x and oxygen vacancies in WO_3-x. These vacancies promote the electrochemically active surface area, enhance the rate of charge separation and transfer, increase the number of electrocatalytic active sites, and accelerate the HER process in alkaline and natural seawater environments.