Nanostructured MoS2 Nanorose/Graphene Nanoplatelet Hybrids for Electrocatalysis

Tailoring and enhancing electrocatalytic activity is of the utmost importance from the viewpoints of sustainable energy and sensing. MoS2 and graphene show great promise for the electrocatalysis of many reactions. Given that both graphene and MoS2 are highly anisotropic in nature, with edge planes that are several orders of magnitude more catalytically active than basal planes, a new hybrid material with maximized edge-plane density to provide efficient electron transfer, high catalytic activity, and conductive cores was engineered. The hybrid material consists of radial MoS2 nanosheets with a high density of edge planes and unsaturated active sulfur atoms as well as interspersed with conductive graphene nanoplatelets. This hybrid material exhibits excellent activity for the hydrogen evolution reaction and the detection of DNA nucleobases. Such a nanoengineered, nanostructured hybrid material may play a major role in future electrocatalytic devices.