Boosting hydrogen evolution on MoS2 via co-confining selenium in surface and cobalt in inner layer

Zhilong Zheng, Liang Yu, Meng Gao, Xiya Chen, Wu Zhou, Chao Ma, Lihui Wu, Junfa Zhu, Xiangyu Meng, Jingting Hu, Yunchuan Tu, Sisi Wu, Jun Mao, Zhongqun Tian and Dehui Deng ()
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Zhilong Zheng: Xiamen University
Liang Yu: Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Science
Meng Gao: University of Chinese Academy of Sciences
Xiya Chen: University of Chinese Academy of Sciences
Wu Zhou: University of Chinese Academy of Sciences
Chao Ma: Hunan University
Lihui Wu: University of Science and Technology of China
Junfa Zhu: University of Science and Technology of China
Xiangyu Meng: Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Science
Jingting Hu: Xiamen University
Yunchuan Tu: Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Science
Sisi Wu: Xiamen University
Jun Mao: Xiamen University
Zhongqun Tian: Xiamen University
Dehui Deng: Xiamen University

Nature Communications, 2020, vol. 11, issue 1, 1-10

Abstract: Abstract The lack of highly efficient, inexpensive catalysts severely hinders large-scale application of electrochemical hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) for producing hydrogen. MoS2 as a low-cost candidate suffers from low catalytic performance. Herein, taking advantage of its tri-layer structure, we report a MoS2 nanofoam catalyst co-confining selenium in surface and cobalt in inner layer, exhibiting an ultra-high large-current-density HER activity surpassing all previously reported heteroatom-doped MoS2. At a large current density of 1000 mA cm−2, a much lower overpotential of 382 mV than that of 671 mV over commercial Pt/C catalyst is achieved and stably maintained for 360 hours without decay. First-principles calculations demonstrate that inner layer-confined cobalt atoms stimulate neighbouring sulfur atoms while surface-confined selenium atoms stabilize the structure, which cooperatively enable the massive generation of both in-plane and edge active sites with optimized hydrogen adsorption activity. This strategy provides a viable route for developing MoS2-based catalysts for industrial HER applications.

Date: 2020
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-020-17199-0

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