Uniform coating of molybdenum disulfide over porous carbon substrates and its electrochemical application

• Published in: Chemical engineering journal (Lausanne, Switzerland : 1996) Switzerland : 1996), 2019-01, Vol.356, p.292-302
• Main Authors: Jeong, Namjo, Kim, Han-ki, Kim, Won-sik, Choi, Ji Yeon, Han, Ji-hyung, Nam, Joo-youn, Hwang, Kyo Sik, Yang, SeungCheol, Jwa, Eun-Jin, Kim, Tae-Young, Park, Soon-Chul, Seo, Yong-Seog, Kim, Sung-in
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Carbon fiber paper (CFP); Molybdenum disulfide (MoS2); Reverse electrodialysis (RED); Uniform coating; Vertical aligned carbon nanotubes (VCNTs)
• ISSN: 1385-8947; 1873-3212
• DOI: 10.1016/j.cej.2018.09.021

[Display omitted] •MoS2@VCNT and MoS2@CFP were prepared in this work.•Uniform MoS2 coating was achieved by CVD of gaseous species in the closed reactor.•This approach is very powerful for MoS2 coating over macroscopic porous substrates.•MoS2/CFP can be a highly active cathode for reverse electrodialysis. The direct integration of two-dimensional nanostructures into macroscopic porous carbon substrates is essential for their practical use in potential applications, which is a big challenge due to the difficulty of securing uniform coating layers. In this work, we demonstrate a very simple and effective method for the direct coating of MoS2 onto the surface of porous carbon structures having nano-sized pores, such as vertically aligned carbon nanotube arrays. A uniform coverage of MoS2 over carbon substrates was achieved by chemical vapor deposition of gaseous species derived from starting precursors in a closed reactor. Transmission electron microscopy images, X-ray diffraction data, and Raman spectra confirmed the formation of highly crystalline MoS2 layers. X-ray photoelectron and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopies revealed highly uniform MoS2 layers over the whole surface of the carbon substrates. Our approach is also applicable for the synthesis of MoS2/carbon fiber paper (CFP) hybrid structures. The electrochemical tests showed that the as-synthesized MoS2/CFP structures can serve as highly active cathodes for reverse electrodialysis.