General Thermal Texturization Process of MoS₂ for Efficient Electrocatalytic Hydrogen Evolution Reaction
Creators
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1.
University of California, Berkeley
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2.
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
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3.
California Institute of Technology
Abstract
Molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) has been widely examined as a catalyst containing no precious metals for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER); however, these examinations have utilized synthesized MoS2 because the pristine MoS2 mineral is known to be a poor catalyst. The fundamental challenge with pristine MoS2 is the inert HER activity of the predominant (0001) basal surface plane. In order to achieve high HER performance with pristine MoS2, it is essential to activate the basal plane. Here, we report a general thermal process in which the basal plane is texturized to increase the density of HER-active edge sites. This texturization is achieved through a simple thermal annealing procedure in a hydrogen environment, removing sulfur from the MoS2 surface to form edge sites. As a result, the process generates high HER catalytic performance in pristine MoS2 across various morphologies such as the bulk mineral, films composed of micron-scale flakes, and even films of a commercially available spray of nanoflake MoS2. The lowest overpotential (η) observed for these samples was η = 170 mV to obtain 10 mA/cm2 of HER current density.
Additional Information
© 2016 American Chemical Society. Received 9 February 2016. Published online 20 June 2016. Published in print 13 July 2016. XPS, SEM, XRD, and the final electrochemical characterization work was performed in collaboration with the Joint Center for Artificial Photosynthesis (JCAP), a DOE Energy Innovation Hub, supported through the Office of Science of the U.S. Department of Energy under Award Number DE-SC0004993. Processing and initial electrochemical characterization were performed in the Electronic Materials Program, which is supported by Director, Office of Science, Office of Basic Energy Sciences, Materials Sciences and Engineering Division, of the U.S. Department of Energy under Contract No. DE-AC02-05CH11231. TEM work was performed in collaboration with Mary Scott at the Molecular Foundry, which is supported by the Office of Science, Office of Basic Energy Sciences, of the U.S. Department of Energy under Contract No. DE-AC02-05CH11231.Attached Files
Supplemental Material - nl6b00569_si_001.pdf
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nl6b00569_si_001.pdf
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Additional details
Additional titles
- Alternative title
- General Thermal Texturization Process of MoS2 for Efficient Electrocatalytic Hydrogen Evolution Reaction
Identifiers
- Eprint ID
- 81739
- Resolver ID
- CaltechAUTHORS:20170922-093800265
Funding
- Department of Energy (DOE)
- DE-SC0004993
- Department of Energy (DOE)
- DE-AC02-05CH11231
Dates
- Created
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2017-09-22Created from EPrint's datestamp field
- Updated
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2021-11-15Created from EPrint's last_modified field