Vertically Aligned Ultrathin 1T-WS(2) Nanosheets Enhanced the Electrocatalytic Hydrogen Evolution

ABSTRACT: Efficient evolution of hydrogen through electrocatalysis holds tremendous promise for clean energy. The catalytic efficiency for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) strongly depends on the number and activity of active sites. To this end, making vertically aligned, ultrathin, and along with rich metallic phase WS(2) nanosheets is effective to maximally unearth the catalytic performance of WS(2) nanosheets. Metallic 1T polymorph combined with vertically aligned ultrathin WS(2) nanosheets on flat substrate is successfully prepared via one-step simple hydrothermal reaction. The nearly vertical orientation of WS(2) nanosheets enables the active sites of surface edge and basal planes to be maximally exposed. Here, we report vertical 1T-WS(2) nanosheets as efficient catalysts for hydrogen evolution with low overpotential of 118 mV at 10 mA cm(−2) and a Tafel slope of 43 mV dec(−1). In addition, the prepared WS(2) nanosheets exhibit extremely high stability in acidic solution as the HER catalytic activity and show no degradation after 5000 continuous potential cycles. Our results indicate that vertical 1T-WS(2) nanosheets are attractive alternative to the precious platinum benchmark catalyst and rival MoS(2) materials that have recently been heavily scrutinized for hydrogen evolution. GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT: Vertical 1T-WS2 for hydrogen evolution. [Image: see text] ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (10.1186/s11671-018-2570-x) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.