An environment-friendly photocatalytic strategy operated at room temperature and atmospheric pressure without using toxic precursors was used to develop high-performance MoS 2 nanoparticulate electrodes consisting of layered MoS 2 nanoparticles on anodized TiO 2 nanotubes (TiO 2 -NTs). TiO 2 -NTs were used as a substrate for MoS 2 growth because of their strong photocatalytic activity and large surface area. The photocatalysis of TiO 2 -NTs was used to reduce (NH 4 ) 2 MoS 4 precursor into MoS 2 nanoparticles. By elaborately designing the microstructures of TiO 2 -NTs, MoS 2 nanoparticles on TiO 2 -NTs demonstrates a high electrocatalytic activity for HER with an onset overpotential of -0.14 V (vs. SHE) and a Tafel slope of ~52 mV/dec, which indicates that our photocatalytic strategy is highly efficient for preparing high-activity MoS 2 nanoparticulate electrode. .
2Hydrogen is considered to be an ideal energy carrier in the future because of its cleaning, renewability and portability. 1-5 Electrochemical and photoelectrochemical water splitting is a sustainable route for hydrogen production, in which a cathode with a high electrocatalytic activity for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) is necessary. Precious metals, such as platinum, are considered to be the best electrocatalysts for HER due to their low onset overpotential and high electrocatalytic activity. 1-8 However, the rarity and high cost prohibit the widespread use as electrocatalysts in HER. Therefore, there is growing interest in the development of efficient non-precious metal hydrogen evolution catalyst. [9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18] Molybdenum disulfide (MoS 2 ) nanoparticles with a layer structure have attracted significant attention for HER because of their excellent electrocatalytic activity and low cost. 15-30 From the practical standpoint of realizing water splitting, MoS 2 nanoparticles need to be fixed on a conductive substrate to form an electrode. Previously, MoS 2 nanoparticles were supported on the surface of Au, 17, 18 nickel foam, 19, 20 conductive glass 21-24 and carbon materials. 25-30 However, the possible application of these electrodes is hindered by their complex preparation procedures, extreme vacuum conditions and toxic precursors. Therefore, development of a sustainable strategy to fabricate MoS 2 nanoparticulate electrode is of significant importance.Herein, we proposed an environment-friendly photocatalytic strategy to develop a kind of high-performance MoS 2 nanoparticulate electrode consisting of layered MoS 2 nanoparticles on anodized TiO 2 nanotubes (TiO 2 -NTs). This photocatalytic strategy was operated at room temperature and atmospheric pressure without using toxic precursors. TiO 2 -NTs grown on Ti substrates with flexible geometry have been well-recognized to be an efficient photocatalyst because of their facile preparation method, large surface area and straight mass transfer channels. 31-33 Herein, TiO 2 -NTs were used as a substrate for the fabrication of MoS 2 nanoparticulate electrode, which provide not...