Construction of carbon net supported heterostructure with enhanced mesoscale diffusion for hydrogen production

Construction of heterocatalyst with enhanced mass diffusion at mesoscale is an efficient approach for improving activity of the catalysts. Herein, a L-cysteine-assisted strategy was reported for synthesis of carbon net supported Mo/MoS2 heterostructure towards efficient hydrogen production. Specifically, the MoO3 nanorods were mixed with L-cysteine at room temperature and treated in Ar/H2 at high temperature to in situ prepare Mo/MoS2/C heterostructure. During the above process, L-cysteine played the roles of carbon and sulfur source to generate porous carbon and MoS2, and Ar/H2 was used to produce Mo. The resultant Mo/MoS2/C exhibited an overpotential of 151 mV (eta 10), which was much lower than the MoS2/C (213 mV) and Mo/C (245 mV). Additionally, the activity was also much better in comparison with the Mo-based catalysts reported in the literature. The finite element analysis results revealed that the nanorod-embedded porous structure of the Mo/MoS2/C was conducive to the mesoscale diffusion, which could facilitate the HER process.