Surface Engineering of MoS2 via Laser-Induced Exfoliation in Protic Solvents

Zhi-Wen Gao; Mengjie Liu; Weiran Zheng; Xiandi Zhang; Lawrence Yoon Suk Lee

doi:10.1002/smll.201903791

Surface Engineering of MoS₂ via Laser-Induced Exfoliation in Protic Solvents

Small. 2019 Oct;15(44):e1903791. doi: 10.1002/smll.201903791. Epub 2019 Sep 11.

Authors

Zhi-Wen Gao¹, Mengjie Liu¹, Weiran Zheng¹, Xiandi Zhang¹, Lawrence Yoon Suk Lee¹

Affiliation

¹ Department of Applied Biology and Chemical Technology and State Key Laboratory of Chemical Biology and Drug Discovery, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hung Hom, Kowloon, Hong Kong SAR, China.

PMID: 31512382
DOI: 10.1002/smll.201903791

Abstract

With excellent performance in the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER), molybdenum disulfide (MoS₂ ) is considered a promising nonprecious candidate to substitute Pt-based catalysts. Herein, pulsed laser irradiation in liquid is used to realize one-step exfoliation of bulk 2H-MoS₂ to ultrastable few-layer MoS₂ nanosheets. Such prepared MoS₂ nanosheets are rich in S vacancies and metallic 1T phase, which significantly contribute to the boosted catalytic HER activity. Protic solvents play a pivotal role in the production of S vacancies and 2H-to-1T phase transition under laser irradiation. MoS₂ exfoliated in an optimal solvent of formic acid exhibits outstanding HER activity with an overpotential of 180 mV at 10 mA cm^-2 and Tafel slope of 54 mV dec^-1 .

Keywords: laser exfoliation in liquid; molybdenum disulfide; phase transition; solvent effect; sulfur vacancy.

Abstract

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