Bifunctional Oxygen Electrocatalysis through Chemical Bonding of Transition Metal Chalcogenides on Conductive Carbons

Improving the electrochemical performance of both the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) and oxygen evolution reaction (OER) has been of great interest in emerging renewable energy technologies. This study reports an advanced bifunctional hybrid electrocatalyst for both ORR and OER, which is composed of tungsten disulphide (WS₂) and carbon nanotube (CNT) connected via tungsten carbide (WC) bonding. WS₂ sheets on the surface of CNTs provide catalytic active sites for electrocatalytic activity while the CNTs act as conduction channels and provide a large surface area. Moreover, the newly formed WC crystalline structure provides an easy path for electron transfer by spin coupling and helps to solve stability issues to enable excellent electrocatalytic activity. In addition, it is found that four to five layers of WS₂ sheets on the surface of CNTs produce excellent catalytic activity toward both ORR and OER, which is comparable to noble metals (Pt, RuO₂, etc.). These findings show the many advantages enabled by designing highly active, durable, and cost-effective ORR and OER electrocatalysts.