Engineering grain boundaries at the 2D limit for the hydrogen evolution reaction

Yongmin He, Pengyi Tang, Zhili Hu, Qiyuan He, Chao Zhu, Luqing Wang, Qingsheng Zeng, Prafful Golani, Guanhui Gao, Wei Fu, Zhiqi Huang, Caitian Gao, Juan Xia, Xingli Wang, Xuewen Wang, Chao Zhu, Quentin M. Ramasse, Ao Zhang, Boxing An, Yongzhe Zhang, Sara Martí-Sánchez, Joan Ramon Morante, Liang Wang, Beng Kang Tay, Boris I. Yakobson, Achim Trampert, Hua Zhang, Minghong Wu (), Qi Jie Wang (), Jordi Arbiol () and Zheng Liu ()
Additional contact information
Yongmin He: Nanyang Technological University
Pengyi Tang: Catalan Institute of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology (ICN2), CSIC and BIST, Campus UAB, Bellaterra
Zhili Hu: Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics
Qiyuan He: Nanyang Technological University
Chao Zhu: Nanyang Technological University
Luqing Wang: Rice University
Qingsheng Zeng: Nanyang Technological University
Prafful Golani: Nanyang Technological University
Guanhui Gao: Paul-Drude-Institut für Festkörperelektronik Leibniz-Institut im Forschungsverbund Berlin Hausvogteiplatz
Wei Fu: Nanyang Technological University
Zhiqi Huang: Nanyang Technological University
Caitian Gao: Nanyang Technological University
Juan Xia: University of Electronic Science and Technology of China
Xingli Wang: CNRS-International-NTU-THALES Research Alliance, Nanyang Technological University
Xuewen Wang: Northwestern Polytechnical University
Chao Zhu: Nanyang Technological University
Quentin M. Ramasse: Keckwick Lane
Ao Zhang: Nanyang Technological University
Boxing An: Beijing University of Technology
Yongzhe Zhang: Beijing University of Technology
Sara Martí-Sánchez: Catalan Institute of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology (ICN2), CSIC and BIST, Campus UAB, Bellaterra
Joan Ramon Morante: Catalonia Institute for Energy Research (IREC), Jardins de les Dones de Negre 1, Sant Adrià del Besòs
Liang Wang: Shanghai University
Beng Kang Tay: CNRS-International-NTU-THALES Research Alliance, Nanyang Technological University
Boris I. Yakobson: Rice University
Achim Trampert: Paul-Drude-Institut für Festkörperelektronik Leibniz-Institut im Forschungsverbund Berlin Hausvogteiplatz
Hua Zhang: Nanyang Technological University
Minghong Wu: Shanghai University
Qi Jie Wang: Nanyang Technological University
Jordi Arbiol: Catalan Institute of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology (ICN2), CSIC and BIST, Campus UAB, Bellaterra
Zheng Liu: Nanyang Technological University

Nature Communications, 2020, vol. 11, issue 1, 1-12

Abstract: Abstract Atom-thin transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) have emerged as fascinating materials and key structures for electrocatalysis. So far, their edges, dopant heteroatoms and defects have been intensively explored as active sites for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) to split water. However, grain boundaries (GBs), a key type of defects in TMDs, have been overlooked due to their low density and large structural variations. Here, we demonstrate the synthesis of wafer-size atom-thin TMD films with an ultra-high-density of GBs, up to ~1012 cm−2. We propose a climb and drive 0D/2D interaction to explain the underlying growth mechanism. The electrocatalytic activity of the nanograin film is comprehensively examined by micro-electrochemical measurements, showing an excellent hydrogen-evolution performance (onset potential: −25 mV and Tafel slope: 54 mV dec−1), thus indicating an intrinsically high activation of the TMD GBs.

Date: 2020
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-019-13631-2

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