Hydrothermal fabrication and OER electrocatalytic evaluation of MoS2/PANI nanocomposite

Abstract

OER synthesis via water electrolysis by using effective electrocatalysts is an exciting phenomenon to be explored by researchers. Hydrogen is observed as clean energy means to meet commercial and domestic needs with minimum environmental hazards. In the proposed work we developed a nanocomposite comprised of flower shaped molybdenum disulfide (MoS₂) and highly conductive polyaniline (PANI) by simple hydrothermal technique. The surface analysis and structural evaluation of organized composite material was carried with scanning electron microscopy and x-ray diffraction technique. The OER catalytic distinguishes of prepared electrode were studied through three electrode system within 1.0 M KOH electrolyte. The MoS₂/PANI electrocatalyst showed low Tafel (51 mV/dec) and overpotential (242 mV) which is superior than Tafel (88 and 99 mV/dec) and overpotential (342 and 296 mV) of PANI and MoS₂ respectively. The smaller resistance of composite (1.67 Ω) than pure MoS₂ (2.14 Ω) can be attributed to enhanced ions mobility due to availability of π electronic structure and increased active sites in composite. Also, the composite electrode material showed excellent retention of electrocatalytic activity over 2300th LSV scan cycles. These remarkable features of prepared composite make it a suitable electrode material for energy generation where quality and cost both matters.