Efficient Catalysis of Hydrogen Evolution Reaction from WS_2(1-x) P_2x Nanoribbons

The rational design of Earth abundant electrocatalysts for efficiently catalyzing hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) is believed to lead to the generation of carbon neutral energy carrier. Owing to their fascinating chemical and physical properties, transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) are widely studied for this purpose. Of particular note is that doping by foreign atom can bring the advent of electronic perturbation, which affects the intrinsic catalytic property. Hence, through doping, the catalytic activity of such materials could be boosted. A rational synthesis approach that enables phosphorous atom to be doped into WS₂ without inducing phase impurity to form WS_2(1-x) P_2x nanoribbon (NRs) is herein reported. It is found that the WS_2(1-x) P_2x NRs exhibit considerably enhanced HER performance, requiring only -98 mV versus reversible hydrogen electrode to achieve a current density of -10 mA cm^-2 . Such a high performance can be attributed to the ease of H-atom adsorption and desorption due to intrinsically tuned WS₂ , and partial formation of NRs, a morphology wherein the exposure of active edges is more pronounced. This finding can provide a fertile ground for subsequent works aiming at tuning intrinsic catalytic activity of TMDs.