Activating the MoS2 Basal Plane by Controllable Fabrication of Pores for an Enhanced Hydrogen Evolution Reaction

Graphical Go nano ! Porous MoS 2 nanosheets were synthesized by etching away Al in Al-doped MoS 2 . The optimized porous MoS 2 nanosheets show a better hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) activity owing to the activated basal plane (see figure). Molybdenum disulfide has drawn persistent interest as a promising nonprecious electrocatalyst alternative to Pt for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). However, the MoS 2 catalytic efficiency is still lower than the Pt-based catalysts owing to insufficient active sites with more inert basal planes. Herein, we designed and synthesized porous MoS 2 nanosheets to activate the basal planes by etching away Al in Al-doped MoS 2 . The optimized porous MoS 2 shows a small onset overpotential as low as 136 mV, a large cathode current density of 10 mA cm −2 at η =201 mV, a low Tafel slope of 62 mV decade −1 , and a high TOF of 0.29 H 2 s −1 per active site at η =200 mV. This study opens up new avenues for designing electrocatalysts based on porous MoS 2 or other layered materials with enhanced HER performance.