Colloidal synthesis of MoSe2, ReSe2, and SnSe2 nanomaterials and their carbon nanocomposites for applications in hydrogen evolution reactions

摘要: The work herein focuses on the synthesis of MoSe2, ReSe2, and SnSe2 nanostructures using the colloidal method. This work is aimed to show that the colloidal method can be used to produce transition metal dichalcogenide (TMD) nanostructures with excellent catalytic activity toward the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). Moreover, this work demonstrates that the method can be used to incorporate various techniques that are used to improve the catalytic activity of TMD nanostructures. The catalytic activity of the TMD nanostructures was improved by introducing Se vacancies, chemical doping, increasing exposure of active edge sites, and forming hybrid nanostructures with carbon nanomaterials. The colloidal method was successfully used to synthesize MoSe2, ReSe2, and SnSe2 nanostructures. The MoSe2 and ReSe2 were synthesized using selenium powder as the selenium precursor and oleic acid as the solvent/surfactant. SnSe2 was synthesized using selenium powder as the selenium precursor and olelyamine as the solvent/surfactant. The MoSe2 and ReSe2 nanostructures formed spherical structures flowerlike morphologies that were composed of few-layer nanosheets. The SnSe2 nanostructures formed into 2D nanoplates. The onset potential and overpotential of the MoSe2 nanostructures were recorded as 108 mV and 313 mV respectively. The onset potential and overpotential of the ReSe2 were measured to be 168 mV and 331 mV respectively. These materials were used as a baseline and attempts were made to improve their catalytic activity. A change in the selenium precursor from selenium powder to selenourea was shown …