Tuning interlayer spacing of MoS2 for enhanced hydrogen evolution reaction

• Published in: Journal of alloys and compounds 2021-05, Vol.864, p.158581, Article 158581
• Main Authors: Guo, Shaohui, Zhang, Yuanyuan, Tang, Songwei, Wang, Bilin, Wang, Yijin, Song, Yaru, Xin, Xu, Zhang, Youzi, Li, Xuanhua
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Au nanoparticles; Carrier mobility; Catalytic activity; Core-shell structure; Electrical properties; Electromagnetic absorption; Electron transfer; Energy bands; Gold; Hybrid structures; Hydrogen evolution reactions; Hydrogen production; Interlayer spacing; Interlayers; Molybdenum disulfide; MoS2; Nanoparticles; Optical properties; Optimization; Phase transitions; Photocatalysis; Photoelectricity; Plasmonic effect; Tuning
• ISSN: 0925-8388; 1873-4669
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jallcom.2020.158581

•MoS2 with expanded interlayered spacing realizes the enhanced H2 production.•MoS2-1.12 achieves a prominent energy band structure for H2 production.•Both optical and electric property are dramatically enhanced.•The MoS2-1.12@Au core-shell structure is designed to boost H2 production. The MoS2 with different interlayer space were obtained with a hydrothermal method. The photocatalytic performance can be improved because of the enhanced light absorption ability, proper energy structure and boosted carrier separation and transportation ability. [Display omitted] The MoS2 structure engineering including hybrid structure construction and material self-optimization (edge sites improvement and phase transition), is a potential solution to boost photocatalytic hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) performance. Among the influence factors to MoS2 structure, the interlayer distance, which is a significant and non-ignorable parameter, plays a momentous role in tuning the photoelectric property and photocatalytic activity of MoS2. Here, we prepare MoS2 with different interlayer distances, and explore the corresponding optical and electrical properties. As the MoS2 interlayer spacing expands, the MoS2-1.12 (interlayer spacing 1.12 nm) is equipped with optimal light absorption ability, broadened energy band structure, high carrier mobility, and good electron transfer performance, compared to the MoS2-0.87 (interlayer spacing 0.87 nm) and MoS2-0.62 (interlayer spacing 0.62 nm). Consequently, the sample MoS2-1.12 possesses better HER performance (hydrogen production rate 311.28 μmol/g/h) than the MoS2-0.87 and MoS2-0.62. In addition, the MoS2 @Au core-shell structure with optimal interlayer distance is designed to further enhance the HER ability, and the H2 production rate of the MoS2-1.12@Au (773.4 μmol/g/h) is 2.48 times than that of the MoS2-1.12. The remarkable enhancement originates from the additional plasmonic Au nanoparticles. These results are significant for developing promising MoS2-based photocatalysts in the field of photocatalytic HER.