Graphene nanosheets decorated with heterostructured ruthenium sulfide as catalyst for enhanced hydrogen evolution reaction

PLoS One. 2024 Dec 12;19(12):e0311885. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0311885. eCollection 2024.

Abstract

In present findings, a simple pyrolysis technique was applied to decorate S and N doped graphene with RuS2-CoO nanoparticles synthesizing a heterostructured nanocomposite RuS2-CoO@SNG. XPS results demonstrate the elemental composition of these nanomaterials with the hint of metal-metal charge transfer phenomenon likely due to heterostructure composition. These modifications led to a significant active surface area resulting in elevated electrocatalytic performance. In comparison to benchmark Pt/C at -60 mV in 1 M KOH, hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) reached at current density around 10 mA cm-2 at -90 mV overpotential. The stability test displayed excellent results with a decrease of 2 mV in overpotential at current density of 10 mA cm-2. Results indicate that such heterostructured nanocomposites can be used as an effective catalyst for HER.

MeSH terms

  • Catalysis
  • Graphite* / chemistry
  • Hydrogen* / chemistry
  • Nanocomposites / chemistry
  • Nanostructures / chemistry
  • Ruthenium* / chemistry
  • Sulfides / chemistry

Substances

  • Graphite
  • Hydrogen
  • Ruthenium
  • Sulfides

Grants and funding

The author(s) received no specific funding for this work.