Incorporating Nb into MoSe₂ Nanoflowers for Overall Electrocatalytic Water Splitting

Incorporating transition metals such as by doping has a significant effect on the properties of TMDs, and it is an appealing research strategy to provide structural and functional tunability of these prospective materials for energy and environmental applications. Here we report the effect of incorporating Nb into MoSe₂ nanoflowers on the catalytic properties for electrochemical water-splitting. Impressively, the Nb incorporation greatly improved the active surface area and the charge-transfer kinetics of the catalyst resulting in significant enhancement of the HER and OER activity. The considerable enhancement can be attributed to the synergistic effect of electronic regulation and surface modification induced by the Nb addition. The Nb-modified MoSe₂ comprise thin coverage of active Nb₂O₅ phase as evident from XPS. The niobium oxide is chemically stable under acidic and neutral conditions but degraded in strong alkaline media, thus our catalyst becomes a good candidate for water electrolysis under non-alkaline conditions.