scholarly journals Unveiling Active Sites for the Hydrogen Evolution Reaction on Monolayer MoS2

2017 ◽  
Vol 29 (42) ◽  
pp. 1701955 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jing Zhang ◽  
Jingjie Wu ◽  
Hua Guo ◽  
Weibing Chen ◽  
Jiangtan Yuan ◽  
...  
Nanomaterials ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (7) ◽  
pp. 1389
Author(s):  
Po-Chia Huang ◽  
Chia-Ling Wu ◽  
Sanjaya Brahma ◽  
Muhammad Omar Shaikh ◽  
Jow-Lay Huang ◽  
...  

The ability to generate hydrogen in an economic and sustainable manner is critical to the realization of a future hydrogen economy. Electrocatalytic water splitting into molecular hydrogen using the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) provides a viable option for hydrogen generation. Consequently, advanced non-precious metal based electrocatalysts that promote HER and reduce the overpotential are being widely researched. Here, we report on the development of MoS2-carbon inter-overlapped structures and their applicability for enhancing electrocatalytic HER. These structures were synthesized by a facile hot-injection method using ammonium tetrathiomolybdate ((NH4)2MoS4) as the precursor and oleylamine (OLA) as the solvent, followed by a carbonization step. During the synthesis protocol, OLA not only plays the role of a reacting solvent but also acts as an intercalating agent which enlarges the interlayer spacing of MoS2 to form OLA-protected monolayer MoS2. After the carbonization step, the crystallinity improves substantially, and OLA can be completely converted into carbon, thus forming an inter-overlapped superstructure, as characterized in detail using X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), Raman spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). A Tafel slope of 118 mV/dec is obtained for the monolayer MoS2-carbon superstructure, which shows a significant improvement, as compared to the 202 mV/dec observed for OLA-protected monolayer MoS2. The enhanced HER performance is attributed to the improved conductivity along the c-axis due to the presence of carbon and the abundance of active sites due to the interlayer expansion of the monolayer MoS2 by OLA.


Nanomaterials ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 662 ◽  
Author(s):  
Guangsheng Liu ◽  
Kunyapat Thummavichai ◽  
Xuefeng Lv ◽  
Wenting Chen ◽  
Tingjun Lin ◽  
...  

Molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) has been universally demonstrated to be an effective electrocatalytic catalyst for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). However, the low conductivity, few active sites and poor stability of MoS2-based electrocatalysts hinder its hydrogen evolution performance in a wide pH range. The introduction of other metal phases and carbon materials can create rich interfaces and defects to enhance the activity and stability of the catalyst. Herein, a new defect-rich heterogeneous ternary nanocomposite consisted of MoS2, NiS and reduced graphene oxide (rGO) are synthesized using ultrathin αNi(OH)2 nanowires as the nickel source. The MoS2/rGO/NiS-5 of optimal formulation in 0.5 M H2SO4, 1.0 M KOH and 1.0 M PBS only requires 152, 169 and 209 mV of overpotential to achieve a current density of 10 mA cm−2 (denoted as η10), respectively. The excellent HER performance of the MoS2/rGO/NiS-5 electrocatalyst can be ascribed to the synergistic effect of abundant heterogeneous interfaces in MoS2/rGO/NiS, expanded interlayer spacings, and the addition of high conductivity graphene oxide. The method reported here can provide a new idea for catalyst with Ni-Mo heterojunction, pH-universal and inexpensive hydrogen evolution reaction electrocatalyst.


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Panlong Zhai ◽  
Mingyue Xia ◽  
Yunzhen Wu ◽  
Guanghui Zhang ◽  
Junfeng Gao ◽  
...  

AbstractRational design of single atom catalyst is critical for efficient sustainable energy conversion. However, the atomic-level control of active sites is essential for electrocatalytic materials in alkaline electrolyte. Moreover, well-defined surface structures lead to in-depth understanding of catalytic mechanisms. Herein, we report a single-atomic-site ruthenium stabilized on defective nickel-iron layered double hydroxide nanosheets (Ru1/D-NiFe LDH). Under precise regulation of local coordination environments of catalytically active sites and the existence of the defects, Ru1/D-NiFe LDH delivers an ultralow overpotential of 18 mV at 10 mA cm−2 for hydrogen evolution reaction, surpassing the commercial Pt/C catalyst. Density functional theory calculations reveal that Ru1/D-NiFe LDH optimizes the adsorption energies of intermediates for hydrogen evolution reaction and promotes the O–O coupling at a Ru–O active site for oxygen evolution reaction. The Ru1/D-NiFe LDH as an ideal model reveals superior water splitting performance with potential for the development of promising water-alkali electrocatalysts.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hong Liu ◽  
Jian-Jun Wang ◽  
Li-Wen Jiang ◽  
Yuan Huang ◽  
Bing Bing Chen ◽  
...  

<p>Hydrogen production via alkaline water electrolysis is of significant interest. However, the additional water dissociation step makes the Volmer step a relatively more sluggish kinetics and consequently leads to a slower reaction rate than that in acidic solution. Herein, we demonstrate an effective strategy that Co(OH)<sub>2</sub> can promote the Volmer process by accelerating water dissociation and enhance the electrocatalytic performance of CoP toward alkaline hydrogen evolution reaction. The Co(OH)<sub>2</sub> nanoplates are electrochemically induced in-situ generated to form a nanotree-like structure with porous CoP nanowires, endowing the hybrid electrocatalyst with superior charge transportation, more exposed active sites, and enhanced reaction kinetics. This strategy may be extended to <a></a><a>other phosphides and chalcogenides </a>and provide insight into the design and fabrication of efficient alkaline HER catalysts.</p>


Author(s):  
Khorsed Alam ◽  
Tisita Das ◽  
Sudip Chakraborty ◽  
Prasenjit Sen

Electronic structure calculations based on density functional theory are used to identify the catalytically active sites for the hydrogen evolution reaction on single layers of the two transition metal tri-chalcogenide...


2022 ◽  
Vol 26 ◽  
pp. 101343
Author(s):  
Mingpeng Chen ◽  
Di Liu ◽  
Yuyun Chen ◽  
Dong Liu ◽  
Xinyu Du ◽  
...  

Catalysts ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (9) ◽  
pp. 948
Author(s):  
Chen Zhao ◽  
Zhi Yu ◽  
Jun Xing ◽  
Yuting Zou ◽  
Huiwen Liu ◽  
...  

The development of efficient electrocatalyst to produce molecular hydrogen from water is receiving considerable attention, in an effort to decrease our reliance on fossil fuels. The prevention of the aggregation of active sites during material synthesis, in order to increase charge transport properties of electrocatalysts, is needed. We have designed, synthesized, and studied a Ag2S/reduced graphene oxide (rGO) electrochemical catalyst (for hydrogen evolution) from water. The Ag2S nanocrystals were synthesized by the solvothermal method in which the rGO was added. The addition of the rGO resulted in the formation of smaller Ag2S nanocrystals, which consequently increased the electrical conductivity of the composite catalyst. The composite catalyst showed a higher electrochemical catalytic activity than the one with an absence of rGO. At a current density of 10 mA/cm2, a low overpotential of 120 mV was obtained. A Tafel slope of 49.1 mV/dec suggests a Volmer–Herovsky mechanism for the composite catalyst. These results may provide a novel strategy for developing hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) electrocatalysts, via the combining of a nano-semiconductor catalyst with a 2D material.


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