Rhenium-Doped and Stabilized MoS<sub>2</sub> Atomic Layers with Basal-Plane Catalytic Activity.

Yang, Shi-Ze; Gong, Yongji; Manchanda, Priyanka; Zhang, Yu-Yang; Ye, Gonglan; Chen, Shuangming; Song, Li; Pantelides, Sokrates T et al. · Adv Mater · 2018

basic_science · Level V

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Abstract

The development of stable and efficient hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) catalysts is essential for the production of hydrogen as a clean energy resource. A combination of experiment and theory demonstrates that the normally inert basal planes of 2D layers of MoS<sub>2</sub> can be made highly catalytically active for the HER when alloyed with rhenium (Re). The presence of Re at the ≈50% level converts the material to a stable distorted tetragonal (DT) structure that shows enhanced HER activity as compared to most of the MoS<sub>2</sub> -based catalysts reported in the literature. More importantly, this new alloy catalyst shows much better stability over time and cycling than lithiated 1T-MoS<sub>2</sub> . Density functional theory calculations find that the role of Re is only to stabilize the DT structure, while catalysis occurs primarily in local Mo-rich DT configurations, where the HER catalytic activity is very close to that in Pt. The study provides a new strategy to improve the overall HER performance of MoS<sub>2</sub> -based materials via chemical doping.