Abstract
Au nanoparticles were decorated on a 2H MoS2 surface to form an Au/MoS2 composite by pulse laser deposition. Improved HER activity of Au/MoS2 is evidenced by a positively shifted overpotential (−77 mV) at a current density of −10 mA cm−2 compared with pure MoS2 nanosheets. Experimental evidence shows that the interface between Au and MoS2 provides more sites to combine protons to form an active H atom. The density functional theory calculations found that new Au active sites on the Au and MoS2 interface with improved conductivity of the whole system are essential for enhancing HER activity of Au/MoS2.
Highlights
Electrocatalytic water splitting is a promising technique to produce hydrogen, which is a green energy source; highly active platinum-based catalysts are expensive, which severely impedes the development of electrocatalytic hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) techniques [1]
Researchers have proven that the edge site of 2H MoS2 is the active site for electrochemical HER; but limited edge sites make natural 2H MoS2 show lower catalytic activity [9]
Ligand-free Au nanoparticles were decorated on a 2H MoS2 surface to form a composite (Au/MoS2) by pulse laser deposition (PLD)
Summary
Electrocatalytic water splitting is a promising technique to produce hydrogen, which is a green energy source; highly active platinum-based catalysts are expensive, which severely impedes the development of electrocatalytic hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) techniques [1]. Various metal nanoparticles such as Pt and Pd have been incorporated into MoS2 nanosheets, which effectively improves MoS2 activity [12]. Au nanoparticles were selectively decorated on the edges and line defects of MoS2 basal planes by a spontaneous redox reaction, and the Au nanoparticles improved the charge transport of MoS2, enhancing the HER catalytic efficiency [15]. A synergistic effect between Au and MoS2 promoted the activity of edge sites and enhanced the conductivity [16]. The dual interfacial effect, namely interfacial electronic interactions between gold nanoclusters and MoS2 nanosheets, and the interface between metal core and surface ligands, improved the charge transfer and electronic interactions [17]. The interface of catalysts plays a vital role in tuning the catalytic performance
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