Constructing WS2/WO3-x heterostructured electrocatalyst enriched with oxygen vacancies for accelerated hydrogen evolution reaction

H2 produced through hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) is a shining star in the field of clean energy. Significant efforts have been dedicated to develop efficient and stable electrocatalysts to reduce the energy barrier and accelerate the kinetics of Hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) under various environments. Herein, we propose a strategy to accelerate the kinetics of HER under acid and alkaline environments by combining heterostructure engineering with defect engineering. We have successfully synthesized a series of WS2/WO3-x heterostructured catalysts, accompanied with substantial oxygen vacancies using a two-step synthesis method. With the partially sulfurization of WO3-x, the heterojunction interface of WS2 and WO3-x was formed along with the appearance of oxygen vacancies, which can facilitate the migration of electrons. The heterostructured catalyst enriched with oxygen vacancies (defined as WS2/WO3-x-2) demonstrates superior HER performance in acidic and alkaline electrolytes. At a current density of 10 mA cm−2, the WS2/WO3-x-2 heterostructured catalyst manifests an overpotential of 120 mV in the acidic electrolytes and a slightly higher overpotential of 150 mV in an alkaline environment. The overpotentials offer an improvement compared to reported W-based catalysts in terms of HER performance. This work provides guiding significance on the design of heterostructured catalysts with promising performance for HER in acidic and alkaline environments.