Basal-Plane Pores Activate Monolayer MoS2 for the Hydrogen Evolution Reaction

Author(s)
Holly M. Fruehwald, Yossarian Liebsch, Umair Javed, Henning Lebius, Clara Grygiel, Radia Rahali, Jani Kotakoski, Marika Schleberger, Rodney D. L. Smith
Abstract

Identification of catalytically relevant sites in solid-state materials and our ability to manipulate such sites is critical to designing improved electrocatalysts. In this work, we prepare a series of monolayer MoS2 using chemical vapor deposition and install varied concentrations of defects through swift heavy ion irradiation. Electron micrographs indicate that the ion irradiation procedure generates pores within MoS2 flakes, and Raman microscopic maps show that the defects exert a strongly localized influence. The localization is strong enough that spectra acquired across individual particles can be classified in a binary fashion: regions are either affected by the irradiation-induced pore or appear as pristine MoS2. Besides providing insight into the nature of the defects within the monolayers, this feature enables spatial resolution of regions with significant densities of such pores. This capability is used to quantify the defect density across the sample series and show that the pores located within the MoS2 flakes are particularly active sites for electrocatalytic hydrogen evolution.

Organisation(s)
Physics of Nanostructured Materials
External organisation(s)
University of Waterloo (UW), Universität Duisburg-Essen, GANIL: Grand Accélérateur National d'Ions Lourds
Journal
ACS Catalysis
Volume
15
Pages
3768
No. of pages
3776
ISSN
2155-5435
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1021/acscatal.4c07970
Publication date
02-2025
Peer reviewed
Yes
Austrian Fields of Science 2012
104008 Catalysis, 104026 Spectroscopy, 103042 Electron microscopy
ASJC Scopus subject areas
Catalysis, Spectroscopy
Portal url
https://ucrisportal.univie.ac.at/en/publications/575ec7d5-f39a-4f44-bccb-2f0358289bd2