Hydrothermally obtained MoSe₂/Reduced graphene oxide based composite with superior electrocatalytic performance

Recent experiments have demonstrated that 1T phase of transition-metal dichalcogenides exhibits superior electro-catalytic activity for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). Herein, we compare the HER performance of as obtained 2H-phase MoSe2 (bare) with hydrothermally synthesized 1T-2H mixed phase MoSe2 and its composites with reduced graphene oxide. Obtained MoSe2/rGO composite has displayed a Tafel slope of 55 mV dec-1 compared with mixed-phase (113 mV dec-1) and 2H-MoSe2 (125 mV dec-1, bare). Composite of MoSe2 with very small amount of rGO has shown increased HER activity with low overpotential (88 mV at 10 mA cm-2), smaller Tafel slope, longer durability and high value of turn over frequency. The weight ratio between MoSe2 and rGO is crucial in determining the HER performance of the composite. The Present work offers a facile and attractive methodology for enhancing the HER performance of 2D materials-based electrocatalysts.