Vertically Aligned WS2 Nanosheets for Water Splitting

Vertically aligned WS₂ (VAWS₂) nanosheet films are prepared using a lithium based anodization electrolyte to fabricate WO₃ films followed by sulfurization. The VAWS₂ synthesized here is self‐organized as a conformal structure to expose active edge sites for water splitting. These vertically aligned nanosheets are composed of exfoliated WS₂ to provide abundant active edges for catalytic reactions. Hydrogen evolution activity of the VAWS₂ is demonstrated to show high catalytic current, low onset overpotential and small Tafel slope. By certain measures, this VAWS₂ nanosheet film outperforms some of the state‐of‐the‐art hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) catalysts, which opens up a new pathway to simply and scalably fabricate high‐performance water electrolysis catalysts.