Frenkel-defected monolayer MoS2 catalysts for efficient hydrogen evolution

• Published in: Nature communications Vol. 13; no. 1; p. 2193
• Main Authors: Xu, Jie, Shao, Gonglei, Tang, Xuan, Lv, Fang, Xiang, Haiyan, Jing, Changfei, Liu, Song, Dai, Sheng, Li, Yanguang, Luo, Jun, Zhou, Zhen
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Nature Publishing Group UK 22-04-2022; Nature Publishing Group; Nature Portfolio
• Subjects: 119/118; 140/133; 142/126; 147/137; 639/301/299/886; 639/925/357; 639/925/930/12; Alternative energy sources; Catalysts; Chemical engineering; Chemical reactions; Chemical vapor deposition; Evolution; Frenkel defects; Humanities and Social Sciences; Hydrogen; Hydrogen evolution reactions; Interstitials; Laboratories; Lattice vacancies; Microscopy; Molybdenum; Molybdenum disulfide; Monolayers; multidisciplinary; Planes; Point defects; Science; Science (multidisciplinary)
• ISSN: 2041-1723; 2041-1723
• DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-29929-7

Defect engineering is an effective strategy to improve the activity of two-dimensional molybdenum disulfide base planes toward electrocatalytic hydrogen evolution reaction. Here, we report a Frenkel-defected monolayer MoS
2
catalyst, in which a fraction of Mo atoms in MoS
2
spontaneously leave their places in the lattice, creating vacancies and becoming interstitials by lodging in nearby locations. Unique charge distributions are introduced in the MoS
2
surface planes, and those interstitial Mo atoms are more conducive to H adsorption, thus greatly promoting the HER activity of monolayer MoS
2
base planes. At the current density of 10 mA cm
−2
, the optimal Frenkel-defected monolayer MoS
2
exhibits a lower overpotential (164 mV) than either pristine monolayer MoS
2
surface plane (358 mV) or Pt-single-atom doped MoS
2
(211 mV). This work provides insights into the structure-property relationship of point-defected MoS
2
and highlights the advantages of Frenkel defects in tuning the catalytic performance of MoS
2
materials.
While material defect sites are active for chemical reactions, it is important to understand how different defect types impact reactivity. Here, authors prepare Frenkel-defected MoS
2
monolayers and demonstrate improved performances for H
2
evolution electrocatalysis than pristine or doped MoS
2
.