Next-Generation Nanostructured Hybrid MoS₂ Trifunctional Catalyst: A Green Technology for Green Hydrogen and Water...

The present work describes the simple hydrothermal production of a flower-like hybrid phase MoS₂ nanostructure using several analytical methods, including transmission electron microscopy, X-ray, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and Raman analysis. This investigation represents the biphase MoS₂ as an efficient multifunctional smart material for application in the piezocatalytic, electrocatalytic, and photoelectrocatalytic fields. This work is primarily focused on the piezocatalytic degradation of methylene blue and rhodamine B under ultrasonic wave in 120 s and 15 min. In addition to piezocatalysis, we report 1T/2H phase MoS₂ as a highly efficient electrocatalyst in alkaline (KOH) and acidic media (H₂SO₄). Herein, we report nickel foam-supported 1T/2H phase MoS₂ as an efficient hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) catalyst with an overpotential of -528 mV (H₂SO₄) and -270 mV (KOH) to achieve 10 mA cm^-2 current density. The synthesized catalyst also shows oxygen evolution reaction (OER) activity in KOH media with an overpotential of 100 mV to achieve a current density of 10 mA cm^-2. The catalytic HER and OER were enhanced in the presence of UV light, indicating further insights into the photoelectrocatalytic property of 1T/2H-MoS₂ phase.