Microwave hydrothermal synthesis of hierarchical Ce-doped MoSe2@CNTs as an efficient non-precious catalyst for hydrogen evolution in both acidic and alkaline media

Abstract To enhance the intrinsic activity and the density of active sites of the electrocatalyst for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER), the microwave-assisted synthesis is adopted to prepare hierarchical Ce-doped MoSe2@CNTs as highly-efficient catalysts for HER in both acidic and alkaline conditions. The well-defined hierarchical nanostructure of Ce-doped MoSe2 on multiple carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) with few layers of MoSe2 nanostructure. The Ce-MoSe2@CNTs sample with an optimal proportion of Ce:Mo (1:5) exhibits outstanding activity and long-term stability in both acidic and alkaline electrolyte. It shows an overpotential of 108 and 166 mV at 10 mA cm−2 in acidic and alkaline electrolyte, respectively. This study offers a prospective opportunity to design and fabricate the highly-effective catalysts coupling with multiple synergistic effect for efficient electrocatalysts.