Nanocomposites of MoS2 nanoparticles with carboxyl-functionalized carbon nanotubes and borocarbonitrides nanosheets, and their electrocatalytic hydrogen evolution reaction activity

We report a facile method to generate MoS2/single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNT) and MoS2/borocarbonitride (BC6N) composites by mixing MoS2 nanoparticle dispersion with different proportions of carboxyl-functionalized SWCNT and BCN in water. The MoS2/SWCNT and MoS2/BCN composites show higher electrocatalytic H2 evolution performance compared to the individual constituents, the activity increasing with the proportion of MoS2. Among the prepared catalysts, MoS2-SWCNT with a 3:1 ratio of MoS2 and SWCNT exhibits highly positive onset potential (-113 mV vs RHE) and a small Tafel slope (59 mV dec−1) as well as remarkable stability in acid electrolyte. The combination of MoS2 nanoparticles with SWCNT or BCN appears to be a valuable finding with applications in catalysis reactions.