Structure tailorable and flexible electrospun Poly(vinylidene fluoride)@WS2 membrane with enhanced hydrogen evolution reaction activity and mechanical properties

The metallic 1T phase layered WS2 was feasible to electrocatalytic hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) compared with its 2H phase. Duo to the intrinsically stabile nature of 2H phase WS2, it is challenging to construct metallic WS2 on flexible polymeric substrate. Herein, a two-step method is proposed for constructing electrospun porous poly (vinylidene fluoride) fibers embedded with metallic WS2 an electrocatalyst. The hybrid catalysts exhibit excellent HER performance, and thanks to distinguished mechanical properties, the flexible electrocatalysts maintain their initial catalytic performance after mechanical twisting. It has been demonstrated by experimentation and COMSOL multiphysics simulations that the identity of catalytic activity not only benefits by the synergistic effect of metallic WS2, but also in favor of the three-dimensional (3D) hierarchical architectures ensuring efficacious and substantial geometric interface for catalyzing the HER. These findings expedite an unique approach to create phase-controlled flexible electrode which facilitates the blueprint of clean energy generation.