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Highlights The main effects of deformation of flexible catalytic materials on the catalytic hydrogen evolution reaction performance are discussed, and a series of novel strategies to design highly active catalysts based on the mechanical flexibility of low-dimensional nanomaterials are summarized in detail. This review provides a strategic choice for the rational design of low-cost and high-performance industrialized electrocatalysts.

Abstract Efficient evolution of hydrogen through electrocatalysis holds tremendous promise for clean energy. The catalytic efficiency for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) strongly depends on the number and activity of active sites. To this end, making vertically aligned, ultrathin, and along with rich metallic phase WS2 nanosheets is effective to maximally unearth the catalytic performance of WS2 nanosheets. Metallic 1T polymorph combined with vertically aligned ultrathin WS2 nanosheets on flat substrate is successfully prepared via one-step simple hydrothermal reaction. The nearly vertical orientation of WS2 nanosheets enables the active sites of surface edge and basal planes to be maximally exposed. Here, we report vertical 1T-WS2 nanosheets as efficient catalysts for hydrogen evolution with low overpotential of 118 mV at 10 mA cm−2 and a Tafel slope of 43 mV dec−1. In addition, the prepared WS2 nanosheets exhibit extremely high stability in acidic solution as the HER catalytic activity and show no degradation after 5000 continuous potential cycles. Our results indicate that vertical 1T-WS2 nanosheets are attractive alternative to the precious platinum benchmark catalyst and rival MoS2 materials that have recently been heavily scrutinized for hydrogen evolution. Graphical Abstract Vertical 1T-WS2 for hydrogen evolution.

Abstract The rational design and preparation of hierarchical nanoarchitectures are critical for enhanced photocatalytic hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). Herein, well-integrated hollow ZnO@TiO2 heterojunctions were obtained by a simple hydrothermal method. This unique hierarchical heterostructure not only caused multiple reflections which enhances the light absorption but also improved the lifetime and transfer of photogenerated charge carriers due to the potential difference generated on the ZnO–TiO2 interface. As a result, compared to bare ZnO and TiO2, the ZnO@TiO2 composite photocatalyst exhibited higher hydrogen production rated up to 0.152 mmol h−1 g−1 under simulated solar light. In addition, highly repeated photostability was also observed on the ZnO@TiO2 composite photocatalyst even after a continuous test for 30 h. It is expected that this low-cost, nontoxic, and readily available ZnO@TiO2 catalyst could exhibit promising potential in photocatalytic H2 to meet the future fuel needs.