Boundary activated hydrogen evolution reaction on monolayer MoS₂.

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Electrochemistry
• Catalysis

Background:

• Monolayer molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) is a promising non-precious electrocatalyst for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER).
• Current MoS2 catalysts suffer from limited active sites and low reactivity in their basal plane, hindering performance.
• Domain boundaries offer a novel strategy to enhance catalytic activity.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the potential of domain boundaries in monolayer MoS2 as active sites for HER.
• To explore the impact of different domain boundary types (2H-2H and 2H-1T) on catalytic performance.
• To demonstrate a scalable approach for fabricating enhanced MoS2 catalysts.

Main Methods:

• Fabrication of monolayer MoS2 with engineered domain boundaries.
• Electrochemical characterization of HER activity in acidic and alkaline media.
• Investigation of catalyst stability and universality.
• Application of domain boundary design to wafer-scale MoS2 films.

Main Results:

• Engineered domain boundaries in MoS2 act as highly active sites for HER.
• Achieved superior catalytic activity, long-term stability, and broad applicability across different pH conditions.
• Demonstrated the feasibility of large-scale production using wafer-scale MoS2 films.

Conclusions:

• Domain boundaries in monolayer MoS2 are effective active sites for enhanced HER.
• The multi-hierarchy design of domain boundaries leads to superior catalytic performance.
• This approach enables scalable and efficient non-precious electrocatalysts for hydrogen production.