MoS₂/nitrogen-doped graphene as efficient electrocatalyst for oxygen reduction reaction

Abstract A simple yet effective strategy was developed to generate a non-precious oxygen electrode electrocatalyst of MoS₂/nitrogen-doped graphene (NG) by physical mixing MoS₂ sheets with NG. The micrometer-sized MoS₂ sheets were obtained through ultrasonication exfoliation of the bulk MoS₂, only showing little oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) activity. MoS₂/NG hybrid was obtained by loading MoS₂ sheets onto NG through ultrasonication, and the resulting nanocomposites exhibited improved electrocatalytic activity for ORR with dominant 4 electron pathway in alkaline solutions. The exposed active edges as well as the synergistic effect and reduced resistance connection jointly make the MoS₂/NG composite a highly competitive ORR catalyst.