Hierarchical Electrodes of MoS ₂ Nanoflakes Wrapped on CNTs in Wood-Derived Porous Carbon Frameworks for a High-Performance Hydrogen Evolution Reaction

Controllable fabrication of high-performance and inexpensive heterogeneous catalysts is crucial for the electrochemical hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and renewable energy. Wood-derived electrodes provide new opportunities. Herein, N-doped carbon nanotubes (CNTs) encapsulating metal particles are in situ generated on graphitized wood (GW)-derived porous carbon frameworks and molybdenum disulfide (MoS₂) nanoflakes are dispersively anchored on CNTs, resulting in hierarchical structures as a hybrid electrode (M/CNT@MoS₂@GW, M = Fe, Co, and Ni). The wood matrix hybrid electrodes with abundant microchannels and hierarchical pores could supply electrolytes for continuous reaction and boost gas diffusion. Consequently, the hybrid electrocatalyst Fe/Fe₃C/CNT@MoS₂@GW exhibits superior HER activity with an overpotential as low as 66.79 mV at 10 mA cm^-2 in an alkaline solution. The activity of the hybrid structure is reduced only by 10.18% at 20 mA cm^-2 after 48 h electrolysis, with nearly no decay after 5000 cyclic voltammetry (CV) cycles, suggesting good stability and durability. Density functional theory calculations illustrate that a thermodynamically favorable hydrogen adsorption free energy (ΔG_H* ≈ 0.07 eV) promotes the catalytic reactions. The results hold great potential in the exploration of wood-derived catalysts for high-performance HER.