Synergistic MXene/MoS₂ hybrid Electrocatalyst with enhanced oxygen evolution activity for efficient water splitting

Developing a low cost and highly efficient noble metal free electrocatalyst for water splitting applications has drawn a lot of attention. MXenes, a novel 2D materials have been researched due to these characteristics such as increased catalytic activity, excellent metallic conductivity, superior hydrophility, huge surface area and high thermal stability. MoS2, a typical 2D transition metal dichalcogenide has been studied for OER, because of following properties like excellent catalytic activity, high density of catalytically active edge sites, layered structure, large specific surface area and less volume expansion. The combination of MXene (Ti3C2) with MoS2 was attributed to good electrocatalytic performance by effective integration, where MoS2 rises surface area and inhibits MXene from restacking. The 2% Ti3C2/MoS2 electrocatalyst demonstrates a minimum overpotential (246 mV), a small Tafel slope (73 mV dec(-1)), large electrochemical surface area and long-term durability than other electrocatalysts, which highlights outstanding OER performance. DFT simulations showed that the Ti3C2/MoS2 heterostructure has a lower Gibbs free energy barrier for OER, which suggests efficient charge transfer efficiency and strong active site interactions. This study provides valuable insights to create an effective electrocatalysts through water splitting for OER, utilizing non-noble metals for sustainable hydrogen production.