Nanoflower-like MoS₂ grown on porous TiO₂ with enhanced hydrogen evolution activity

Here, we employed a simple strategy to prepare MoS₂/TiO₂ heterostructure as a highly efficient electrocatalyst for water splitting. The characterization results showed that the nanoflower-like MoS₂ was successfully grown on porous TiO₂ and formed a robust MoS₂/TiO₂ heterostructure. This special structure increases the surface area of the electrocatalyst and provides abundant channels for charge transfer, resulting in highly efficient catalytic properties of TiO₂. The electrochemical measurements show that the MoS₂/TiO₂ heterostructure exhibits an excellent hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) activity in acidic electrolyte (a potential of ∼108 mV at 10 mA cm⁻² and a Tafel slope of 55 mV decade⁻¹) and alkaline electrolyte (a potential of ∼127 mV at 10 mA cm⁻² and a Tafel slope of 59 mV decade⁻¹), respectively. The superior HER activity may be due to the rationally designed MoS₂/TiO₂ heterostructure, which significantly improves the separation and transport of charge carriers during the HER process.