Emerging hierarchical ternary 2D nanocomposites constructed from montmorillonite, graphene and MoS₂ for enhanced electrochemical hydrogen evolution

Two-dimensional (2D) molybdenum disulfide (MoS₂) nanosheets show excellent electrocatalytic activity for hydrogen evolution reaction stemming from the active edge sites, which have been considered as a promising electrocatalyst to substitute the scarce precious-metal. However, the hydrophobicity and poor electrical conductivity of MoS₂ restricts the further improvement of its catalytic performance for electrolysis of water. Herein, hierarchical ternary 2D nanocomposites were successfully prepared via hydrothermal synthesis of MoS₂ nanosheets on the reduced graphene oxide modified montmorillonite. Three 2D nanomaterials of montmorillonite, graphene and MoS₂ were integrated into hierarchical nanocomposites with the interfacial interaction. Due to the synergistic effects of montmorillonite and graphene, the obtained nanocomposites possess efficient electrocatalytic performance for hydrogen evolution with low Tafel slope of 53 mV/dec. Combining the high electrical conductivity of graphene and excellent hydrophilicity of montmorillonite could synchronously improve the electron transfer and interfacial reaction efficiency of MoS₂ nanocomposites. This material design strategy in this study could pave a new avenue to construct the novel hierarchical 2D nanocomposites for electrochemical hydrogen evolution.