Using phosphorus-doped molybdenum sulfide with (100)-facet-exposed and enlarged interlayer spacing to enhance hydrogen evolution

• Published in: Journal of electroanalytical chemistry (Lausanne, Switzerland) Switzerland), 2021-09, Vol.897, p.115545, Article 115545
• Main Authors: Niu, Chunxia, Mu, Yuewen, Song, Hua, Chang, Yunzhen, Hou, Wenjing, Zhao, Yun, Han, Gaoyi, Xiao, Yaoming
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Ammonium molybdate; Ammonium tetrathiomolybdate; Clean energy; Electrical resistivity; Electrolysis; Enlarged interlayer spacing; Hydrazines; Hydrogen; Hydrogen evolution; Hydrogen evolution reactions; Hydrogen production; Hydrogen-based energy; Interlayers; Molybdenum disulfide; P-doped molybdenum sulfide; Phosphorus
• ISSN: 1572-6657; 1873-2569
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jelechem.2021.115545

[Display omitted] As a kind of clean energy, production of hydrogen by electrolyzing water has attracted a lot of research interests. Designing highly efficient and stable non-precious metal catalytic electrodes is the key problem for large-scale utilization of hydrogen. Here, phosphorus-doped MoS2 with few-layered structure is prepared by directly solvo-thermally treating (NH4)2MoS4 in the presence of hydrazine and sodium hypophosphite. It is found that the obtained few-layered MoS2 has been doped with phosphorus. The optimal phosphorus-doped MoS2 exhibits substantially lower overpotentials of 160 mV to drive the hydrogen evolution reaction at current density of 10 mA cm−2 without iR correction and small Tafel slope of 59 mV dec-1 compared with the un-doped MoS2, which is inferior to the performance of commercial platinum carbon. Furthermore, the P-doped MoS2 nanosheets show excellent stability of hydrogen evolution by electrolysis of water in acidic medium. The density functional calculations have elucidated that the incorporation of phosphorus atoms can significantly improve the electrical conductivity and decrease the H adsorption energy barrier on MoS2 sheet. The few-layered P-doped MoS2 may be developed as promising candidates towards hydrogen generation for practical applications.