Low-temperature growth of Three dimensional ReS2/ReO2 metal-semiconductor heterojunctions on Graphene/polyimide film for enhanced hydrogen evolution reaction

Low temperature growth of vertical ReO2 arrays on flexible graphene-polyimide (G-PI) conductive film by the vortex flow chemical vapor deposition (VFCVD) at 450 °C, and the simulation suggest that vapor pressure of ReO2 is almost 100 times higher than that of free space at identical conditions. The optimized brush-like ReS2/ReO2 metal-semiconductor heterojunction nanostructure possess outstanding HER activity with high long-term stability. [Display omitted] •Vortex flow CVD (VFCVD) is developed to synthesize high melt point ReO2 nanostructure at low temperature.•Vapor pressure of ReO2 is enhanced 100 times in confined space by Euler equation simulation.•ReS2/ReO2 heterojunctions are shown expectedly enhanced HER performance and long-term stability.•Conductive Graphene/polyimide film would be the alternative flexible substrate around 450 °C.•VFCVD is an universal approach to low-temperature growth of inorganic nanomaterials for flexible energy devices. Flexible inorganic electronics (FIE) have shown unique advantages in energy conversion, aerospace and wearable devices due to excellent electronic properties and thermostability of inorganic materials. The industrialization of high-performance flexible inorganic electronics (FIE) devices requires universal approaches to fabricate inorganic crystal on polymer substrates at acceptable temperature. Herein, we firstly developed the vortex flow chemical vapor deposition (VFCVD) for low temperature synthesis of high-quality vertical ReO2 arrays at 450 °C on flexible graphene-polyimide (G-PI) conductive film. The Euler equations suggest that the vapor pressure of ReO2 is almost 100-times higher than that of free space with VFCVD at identical conditions. The derived ReS2/ReO2 metal-semiconductor heterojunction arrays are performed outstanding hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) activity with high long-term stability as an energy conversion device. This work opens up an opportunity for low temperature growth of inorganic nanomaterials on polymer substrates by VFCVD for the industrialization of high-performance flexible energy devices.