Hydrogen production from water splitting has been considered as an effective and sustainable method to solve future energy related crisis. Molybdenum sulfides (e.g., MoS2) show promising catalytic ability in hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). Combining MoS2 with conductive carbon-based materials has aroused tremendous research interest recently. In this work, a highly efficient multiple-catalyst is developed for HER by decorating Pt nanoparticles (Pt NPs) on MoS2@graphene protected nickel woven fabrics (NiWF) substrate, which comprises the following components: (i) Graphene protected NiWF acts as the underlying substrate, supporting the whole structure; (ii) MoS2 nanoplates serve as a central and essential photosensitive component, forming a heterostructure with graphene simultaneously; and (iii) on the basis of the intrinsic photoluminescence effect of MoS2, together with the photoelectric response at the MoS2/graphene interface, Pt NPs are successfully deposited on the whole structure under illumination. Particularly and foremost, this work emphasizes on discussion and verification of the underlying mechanism for photopromoted electroless Pt NPs deposition. Due to this assembly approach, the usage amount of Pt is controlled at ∼5 wt % (∼0.59 at. %) with respect to the whole catalyst. MoS2@Substrate with Pt NPs deposited under 643 nm illumination, with the synergistic effect of MoS2 active sites and Pt NPs, demonstrates the most superior electrocatalytic performance, with negligible overpotential and low Tafel slope of 39.4 mV/dec.
Keywords: MoS2; graphene; hydrogen evolution reaction; photoluminescence; platinum.