Highly densed BCN nanofiber core with MoS2 shell for enhanced hydrogen evolution reaction and supercapacitance applications

[Display omitted] •This is a direct synthesis of BCN nanofibers were directly obtained using CVD technique. As per other literature review, BCN in its nanotubular form showed multifunctional properties and applications.•When applied as an electrode, the monolithic BCN/MoS2 electrode is fabricated by a simple and scalable CVD process followed by direct magnetron sputtering at room temperature. Boron carbon nitrogen (BCN) nanofibers was synthesized using chemical vapor deposition (CVD) followed by depositing molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) forming a core–shell structure. This core–shell nanocomposite was directly grown on carbon paper to form working electrode, where it displayed excellent energy storage ability as well as hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) catalytic activity. We believe that during the shell deposition, it effectively etched the inert basal plane of MoS2, leading to the formation of entrenched valleys and to the further increasing of the active edge sites. Coupled with high surface area and high density BCN nanofibers core, the MoS2/BCN nanofiber catalyst demonstrated a very low overpotential of 85 mV in acidic media at a current density of 10 mA cm−2 for HER. In addition, the optimally tuned MoS2/BCN nanofiber also showed superior electrochemical performance as a supercapacitor with higher specific capacitance of 446.3 A g−1 at current density of 0.25 A g−1. Overall, this excellent catalytic activity is found to be due to their abundant active sites and fast ion transfer capability.