Facile fabrication of MoS2 and MoSe2 layered structures on Mo foil for the efficient photocatalytic dye degradation and electrocatalytic hydrogen evolution reaction

The rapidly growing necessity for sustainable materials in fields such as energy, environmental science, and medicine, two dimensional-based photo- and electro-catalysts has obtained mounting consideration. A simple methodology was employed to fabricate MoSe2 and MoS2 layered structures on flexible Mo foil as heterogeneous catalysts for the electrocatalytic hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and the photocatalytic decolorization of chromic red (CR) and methylene blue (MB) dyes. The structural characteristics confirm the formation of the multi-layer thick MoSe2 and MoS2 nanofilms. The toxic MB and CR dyes were rapidly and effectively decolorized in polluted water by the photocatalysts within 30 min of UV-light irradiation. The fabricated layered structures exhibited favorable HER electrocatalytic activities along with low overpotentials, small Tafel slopes, and excellent 24-h stability performances. The strong catalytic behavior of these structures fabricated on Mo foil in relation to the HER reaction and the dye decolorization process make them suitable candidates for the catalyst industry.