Preparation of the flower-like MoS2/SnS2 heterojunction as an efficient electrocatalyst for hydrogen evolution reaction

[Display omitted] •The flower-like MoS2/SnS2 heterojunction was prepared via a simple hydrothermal method.•Compared with pure MoS2 and SnS2, the electrochemical HER activity of MoS2/SnS2 heterojunction was enhanced.•The heterojunction can effectively reduce the resistance and improve the conductivity. Layered metal sulfides (LMS) are promising in the electrochemical hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). Unfortunately, LMS shows poor electrical conductivity, only the exposed edges are active for hydrogen evolution reaction. In this work, a MoS2/SnS2 heterojunction with an open 3D flower-like structure is prepared via a simple hydrothermal method. The MoS2/SnS2 heterojunction displays a high HER activity, obtaining a current density of 10 mA cm−2 at an overpotential of 288 mV and a Tafel slope of 50 mV dec-1. In addition, the MoS2/SnS2 heterojunction shows high durability for HER. Structure and composition analysis, together with electrochemical measurements show that the MoS2/SnS2 heterojunction could effectively induce the interface-coupling effect and adjust the electronic structure, optimize the kinetics process, in turn, enhance the HER performances.