Enhanced hydrogen evolution reaction performance of manganese-doped vanadium disulfide nanosheet across full pH spectrum and in simulated seawater

Hydrogen production technologies that can efficiently operate across the entire pH range hold great promise for diverse application scenarios, especially in seawater electrolysis. In this work, we report a facile colloidal-chemistry synthesis of manganese-doped vanadium disulfide (Mn-VS₂) monolayer nanosheets with superior hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) performance. The incorporation of manganese lowers the formation energy of sulfur vacancies and modifies electronic states, thereby creating additional catalytic sites and enhancing reaction kinetics. Benefiting from these features, Mn-VS₂ achieves an overpotential of 40 mV at -10 mA cm^-2 in simulated seawater and maintains excellent operational stability for over 100 hours. These findings underscore the potential of Mn-VS₂ as a robust electrocatalyst for direct seawater electrolysis, providing a viable avenue for exploring sustainable hydrogen production in practical marine environments.