Issue 21, 2018

Transition metal atom doping of the basal plane of MoS2 monolayer nanosheets for electrochemical hydrogen evolution

Abstract

Surface sites of extensively exposed basal planes of MoS2 monolayer nanosheets, prepared via BuLi exfoliation of MoS2, have been doped with transition metal atoms for the first time to produce 2D monolayer catalysts used for the electrochemical hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). Their HER activity is significantly higher than the corresponding thin and bulk MoS2 layers. HAADF-STEM images show direct proof that single transition metal atoms reside at the surface basal sites, which subtly modify the electro-catalytic activity of the monolayer MoS2, dependent on their electronic and stereospecific properties. It is found that these dopants play an important role in tuning the hydrogen adsorption enthalpies of the exposed surface S atoms and Mo atoms in HER. We report electrochemical testing, characterization and computational modelling and demonstrate that Co can significantly enhance the HER activity by the dominant Co–S interaction, whereas Ni substantially lowers the HER rate due to the Ni–Mo interaction at the same basal site. The two transition metal dopants show opposite doping behavior despite the fact that they are neighbors in the periodic table.

Graphical abstract: Transition metal atom doping of the basal plane of MoS2 monolayer nanosheets for electrochemical hydrogen evolution

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Edge Article
Submitted
09 mar 2018
Accepted
29 apr 2018
First published
30 apr 2018
This article is Open Access

All publication charges for this article have been paid for by the Royal Society of Chemistry
Creative Commons BY license

Chem. Sci., 2018,9, 4769-4776

Transition metal atom doping of the basal plane of MoS2 monolayer nanosheets for electrochemical hydrogen evolution

T. H. M. Lau, X. Lu, J. Kulhavý, S. Wu, L. Lu, T. Wu, R. Kato, J. S. Foord, Y. Soo, K. Suenaga and S. C. E. Tsang, Chem. Sci., 2018, 9, 4769 DOI: 10.1039/C8SC01114A

This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported Licence. You can use material from this article in other publications without requesting further permissions from the RSC, provided that the correct acknowledgement is given.

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