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Highly proficient, long-lasting non-noble-metal-supported electrocatalysts for hydrogen evolution reaction are important for hydrogen energy production through alkaline electrolyte. In transition metal dichalcogenides, tungsten sulfide is one of the popular materials and is used in a wide variety of applications. In this work, pristine and cationic surfactant assisted tungsten sulfide were successfully synthesized via simple hydrothermal method in alkaline electrolyte for hydrogen evolution reaction. X-ray diffraction confirmed tungsten sulfide rhombohedral structure formation with high index plane (003). Scanning electron microscopy explored tungsten sulfide nanosheet-assembled mesoporous sphere morphology. Tungsten sulfide and cationic surfactant assisted tungsten sulfide overpotential values were found to be 141 and 102 mV at 10 mA/cm2 from linear sweep voltammetry curves. The obtained Tafel slope of tungsten sulfide and cationic surfactant assisted tungsten sulfide were 26.9 and 21.4 mV/dec, respectively. The solution and charge transfer resistance of the prepared materials were obtained from Nyquist plot and found to be 1.7 and 1.4 Ω, and 53.6 and 32 Ω, respectively. The specific surface area, pore diameter, and volume were analyzed by Brunauer–Emmett–Teller method and obtained values for surface area, pore size, and volume of cetyltrimethylammonium bromide assisted tungsten sulfide were 65.05 m2/g, 3.502 nm, and 0.067 cc/g, respectively. The obtained result suggested that 0.1 M cationic surfactant assisted tungsten sulfide showed high catalytic activity with minimum overpotential. Long-term durability studies also suggested that the optimized surfactant-assisted tungsten sulfide had excellent stability over a prolong time of 16 h without any decay. However, the stability of the material exhibited only 90% retention which will improve in our near future works by using carbon-based materials. Hence, carbon-based materials exhibited outstanding chemical stability and offer large surface area, which significantly improves the hydrogen evolution reaction activity and suggests to be used in large-scale applications. [Display omitted] • Tungsten sulfide (WS 2) revealed rhombohedral structure with high index plane (003). • WS 2 surface area, pore size and volume was 65.05 m2/g, 3.502 nm and 0.067 cc/g. • WS 2 explored low 102 mV overpotential with Tafel slope of 21.4 mV/dec. • Cetyltrimethylammonium bromide assisted WS 2 exhibited 90% retention in 16 h CA test. • The optimum concentration of cationic surfactant was fixed as 0.1 M. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • CW1, CW2 and CW3 electrodes overpotential were 123, 115 and 102 mV. • Tafel slope values of prepared electrodes were 245, 244 and 238 mV/dec. • CW3 electrode exhibited high C dl value of 32.8 mF/cm2 and enhanced HER. • CW3 electrode exhibited 75% retention in 16 h durability test. Hexamethylenetetramine (HMT) assisted calcium tungstate nanostructures were successfully synthesized through co-precipitation method. The phase and material confirmation of scheelite type calcium tungstate nanostructures with tetragonal unit cell (a = 5.193 and c = 11.255) were done by employing X-ray diffraction (XRD). All the prepared electrocatalysts such as CW1, CW2 and CW3 crystallite sizes were 29.01, 24.86 and 17.40 nm respectively. The calculated band gap values were found to be 3.31, 3.31 and 3.27 eV for CW1, CW2 and CW3 materials respectively. Different morphology such as ball like and dumbbell shaped calcium tungstate were revealed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Surfactant largely plays a significant role to reduce nanostructures agglomeration. The specific surface area, pore volume and diameter of 0.1 M hexamethylenetetramine (HMT) assisted calcium tungstate nanostructure was about 24.7 m2/g, 0.141 cc/g and 3.365 nm. The surface area of the calcium tungstate nanostructures drastically enhanced hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) performance as recognized by linear sweep voltammetry. The overpotential values of CW1, CW2 and CW3 electrodes were 123, 115 and 102 mV respectively. Solution resistance (R s) and charge transfer resistance (R ct) of synthesized materials was finding out by electrochemical impedance spectroscopy and all prepared electrocatalyst estimated values were 1.07, 1.25, 1.34 Ω and 4.06, 1.62, 0.76 Ω respectively. The stability of 0.1 M hexamethylenetetramine (HMT) assisted CaWO 4 was analyzed by 16 h and it exhibited excellent robustness without any decay. The synthesized CaWO 4 material exhibited superior hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) activity and the prepared electrodes was capable electro catalysts in water splitting applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A SeO 2 nanostructure was prepared employing stabilized solvothermal method for water oxidation process in three electrodes cell set-up. Reducing agent influence on material morphology and its domination on electrochemical properties were investigated. Tetragonal structure of SeO 2 was confirmed from the crystal plane of (211) through X-ray diffraction (XRD) study. Reducing agent concentration was highly dominated the particle size and shape which was explored by field emission scanning electron micrograph (FESEM) images. The superior electrochemical specific capacitance of 572 F/g at 10 mV/s was afforded by SeO 2 nanoparticles synthesized via 15 M NaBH 4 by cyclic voltammogram (CV) study. The highest water oxidation performance of 292 mA/g at 10 mV/s was also demonstrated by the same electrode from linear sweep voltammogram (LSV), with better charge transfer and excellent stability. The exceptional performance of the SeO 2 electrocatalyst prepared by using highest NaBH 4 concentration evidenced its great role for potential applications. Image 1 • Superior electrochemical specific capacitance of 572 F/g at 10 mV/s was afforded by SeO 2. • Highest water oxidation performance of 292 mA/g at 10 mV/s was demonstrated. • Better charge transfer and excellent stability was afforded by SeO 2. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]