Development of metal dichalcogenides toward accelerated electrochemical hydrogen generation

In this study, metal dichalcogenides decorated porous carbon composite will be synthesized from the fruit peel. This fruit peel results in a significant amount of organic waste/biowaste. Thus the main aim of this work is focused on the possible reuse of biowaste/food waste by an inexpensive method. Growing global biowaste is a significant impact on environmental issues. Already various bio-sources were used for the preparation of carbon materials. All plant sources consist of polyphenols, carbohydrates, minerals, vitamins, dietary fibers, chlorophylls, carotenoids, antioxidants, etc. Therefore, here the fruit peel would be used as a carbon source to synthesize activated carbon and nano-electrocatalyst composite. The synthesized electrocatalysts will be well characterized by standard surface analytical tools. The electrochemical activity of prepared electrocatalysts will be tested for the hydrogen evolution reaction. It is expected that a large specific surface area and multi-heteroatoms doped waste-derived activated carbon are beneficial for the enhanced dispersion and intimate contact of metal dichalcogenides with carbon frameworks to enhance catalytic activity metal dichalcogenides nanoparticles.

The purpose of this study is to synthesize nanocomposite fabricated from metal dichalcogenides and activated carbon derived from waste as a low-cost and efficient electrocatalyst for water splitting.