Hierarchical molybdenum disulfide on carbon nanotube–reduced graphene oxide composite paper as efficient catalysts for hydrogen evolution reaction

Herein, we report a composite structure composed of vertically grown molybdenum disulfide (MoSx) nanosheets supported by conductive carbon nanotube–reduced graphene oxide (CNT–rGO) on Vietnamese traditional paper (MoSx/CNT–rGO/VTP) for a high-performance electrochemical hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). In the fabrication, CNT–rGO is first prepared on VTP by roll coating, following which the vertically aligned MoS2 nanosheets are synthesized on the surface of CNT–rGO/VTP through a simple hydrothermal reaction. The catalyst exhibits excellent HER electrocatalytic activity including a low onset potential of 190 mV, Tafel slope of 59 mV dec−1, and excellent stability in an acidic electrolyte solution. The excellent catalytic performance can be attributed to the abundant active edges provided by the vertically aligned MoSx nanosheets, as well as the effective electron transport provided by the CNT–rGO conductive substrate. Therefore, our study demonstrates an inexpensive and simple method to facilitate the large-scale application of non-noble catalysts. In addition, the method can be extended to the development of other transition metal dichalcogenide composite structures for electrochemical applications. [Display omitted] •We successfully fabricated CNT-rGO composite papers using Vietnamese Traditional paper as templates.•Hierarchical MoSx was uniformly grown on CNT-RGO paper using hydrothermal method.•All the basic characterizations were carried out to confirm the structure of materials such as XRD, XPS, SEM and Raman.•We figure out that the use of Ni or Ti wire is necessary to improve the performance of MoSx on CNT/rGO paper as catalyst for HER.•Finally, binder-free with strong stability electrocatalysts for HER under working condition were demonstrated, showing good potential for practical applications.