Bifunctional MoSe₂-Ni Nanocomposites Based Symmetric Alkaline Water Electrolyzers

The quest for sustainable and clean energy sources has led to the exploration of electrochemical water splitting as a viable method for green hydrogen production. The present study introduces a novel strategy to improve the bifunctional electrocatalytic performance of MoSe₂ by decoration of Ni nanoparticles. This electrochemical study reveals that 10 wt% decoration of Ni over MoSe₂ based electrode shows a lowest overpotential (ɳ₁₀) and Tafel slope (ɳ₁₀ ∼ 277 mV, Tafel slope ∼64 mV dec^-1 for OER and ɳ₁₀ ∼141 mV, Tafel slope ∼62 mV dec^-1 for HER), indicating superior catalytic performance compared to pristine MoSe₂ and other nanocomposites with 5 and 20 wt% Ni. Additionally, we performed the in situ Raman spectroscopy to confirm the formation of electrochemically active phases during electrocatalytic processes. Further, we have demonstrated in-house symmetric alkaline water electrolyzers utilizing prepared materials as electrodes for overall water splitting. It clearly suggests that MoSe₂-Ni (10%) based electrolyzer shows superior performance, attributed to the higher number of active sites, large electrochemically active surface area, and strong synergistic interaction between Ni and MoSe₂ nanosheets. These findings suggest that Ni decoration over MoSe₂ is a promising strategy for advancing clean energy technologies.