Large-scale synthesis of ultra-long sodium doped MoS2 nanotubes with high electrocatalytic activity

• Published in: Journal of alloys and compounds 2022-02, Vol.893, p.162362, Article 162362
• Main Authors: Yan, Yuna, Zhang, Yan, Shen, Gang, Cao, Xunran, Hong, Kunquan
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Ammonium molybdate; Crystal structure; Diffraction patterns; Dye-sensitized solar cells; Electrocatalytic activity; Energy conversion efficiency; Hydrothermal; Hydrothermal crystal growth; Image transmission; Molybdenum disulfide; Molybdenum disulfide (MoS2); Nanotube; Nanotubes; Photoelectrons; Photovoltaic cells; Precursors; Raman spectra; Scanning electron microscopy; Sodium; Sodium chloride; Spectrum analysis; Sulfurization; Synthesis; Transition metal compounds; Water baths; X ray photoelectron spectroscopy
• ISSN: 0925-8388; 1873-4669
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jallcom.2021.162362

•Raw materials are low cost and easy to obtain.•The synthesis method is simple and easy to operate.•Large-scale preparation of the MoS2 nanotubes is achieved.•The ultra-long MoS2 nanotubes show an attractive morphological structure.•Synthetic MoS2 nanotubes have a relatively high electrocatalytic activity. Large-scale production of high-quality molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) nanotubes is important due to their special structure and inherent properties. In this paper, we reported a low-cost approach to synthesize ultra-long Na doped MoS2 nanotubes on a large-scale by sulfurizing the precursors which produced by a hydrothermal method. Sodium chloride (NaCl) and ammonium molybdate solution are stirring in a heated water bath to prepare these precursors. Then Na doped MoS2 nanotubes are obtained by vapor-phase sulfurization using sulfur powder as S source. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) images, X-ray diffraction (XRD) pattern, Raman spectra and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) prove the crystal structure of Na doped MoS2 with elemental composition of NaxMoS2 (x = 0.38–0.44). The morphology of the samples shows pure high-quality Na doped MoS2 nanotubes with length ranging from 100 to 300 µm. When used as the counter electrode (CE) of dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs), these nanotubes have excellent electrocatalytic activity. A power conversion efficiency of 5.85% is recorded in these solar cells, which is near that of the referenced Pt counter electrodes. This makes these nanotubes are ideal CEs of DSSCs. So this method is a simple and convenient approach to synthesize transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) nanotubes on a large scale.