Preparation of Mo-S-P electrocatalytic films by pulsed laser ablation of MoS2/P composite target for effective hydrogen production

Abstract

The results of structural and electrochemical studies of thin Mo-S-P films obtained by pulsed laser deposition at various conditions from a target made of mixture of MoS2 and P powders are presented. For variation of S/P ratio and modification structure of the catalytic films, the deposition of the laser plume was conducted in vacuum, in Ar and H2S gas. The highest electrocatalytic properties for activating the hydrogen evolution reaction in an acid solution were found for composite amorphous/nanocrystalline MoS6P/nc-Mo films. In the chemical stateof S 2p, the high binding energy dominated. The doping of the films with phosphorus increased the efficiency of the reaction compared with that of MoS x /nc-Mo films. The analysis of the synergistic effect of phosphorus on the performance of amorphous MoS x P y films in H2 evolution was carried out using the density functional theory.