VS₂ nanospheres in-situ anchored on Ti₃C₂T_x MXene hybrid heterostructures as an efficient electrocatalyst for highly efficient hydrogen evolution reaction

Exploring earth-abundant in expensive highly active electrocatalysts for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) is crucial for energy harvesting and effective overall water splitting. In this regard, flower-like VS₂ microspheres anchored on Ti₃C₂T_x MXene hybrid heterostructure are successfully fabricated by simple one step hydrothermal process and used as electrocatalysts for HER. Beneficial from the synergetic and strong coupling effect between VS₂ microspheres and Ti₃C₂T_x the synthesized hybrid heterostructure ensures numerous active sites, displayed high conductivity and excellent electrocatalytic performance. Notably, the optimized VS₂/Ti₃C₂T_x hybrid delivers a superior HER activity with overpotential of 123 mV and a Tafel value of 107 mV dec⁻¹ in alkaline media. Furthermore, the hybrid catalysts showed outstanding durability over 100 h for HER in alkaline medium.