HER activity of nanosheets of 2D solid solutions of MoSe2 with MoS2 and MoTe2

• Published in: Bulletin of materials science Vol. 43; no. 1; p. 313
• Main Authors: Binwal, Devesh Chandra, Kaur, Manjodh, Pramoda, K, Rao, C N R
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Bangalore Indian Academy of Sciences 01.12.2020; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Chemistry and Materials Science; Electrodes; Engineering; Exfoliation; High temperature; Hydrogen evolution reactions; Materials Science; Nanosheets; Photocatalysis; Ratios; SAMat Focus Issue; Selenium; Solid solutions; photocatalytic HER; Solid solution; electrocatalytic HER; nanosheets
• ISSN: 0250-4707; 0973-7669
• DOI: 10.1007/s12034-020-02293-2

MoS x Se (2− x ) and MoSe x Te (2− x ) solid solutions with various S:Se and Se:Te ratios have been prepared by high temperature solid-state reactions, and thinned down to few-layers by Li-intercalation followed by exfoliation. Photocatalytic as well as electrocatalytic hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) activity of exfoliated MoS x Se (2− x ) /MoSe x Te (2− x ) 2D nanosheets have been studied. It is found that Se-rich compositions exhibit good HER activity. The MoS 0.5 Se 1.5 nanosheets show high photocatalytic HER activity yielding 29.6 mmol h −1  g −1 of H 2 , while MoS 1.0 Se 1.0 displays good electrocatalytic activity with an onset potential of −0.220 V. Amongst MoSe x Te (2− x ) solid solutions, MoSe 1.8 Te 0.2 shows relatively high photocatalytic HER activity (5.0 mmol h −1  g −1 ), while MoSe 1.0 Te 1.0 exhibits a low onset potential (−0.190 V vs . RHE).