On the synthesis of morphology-controlled transition metal dichalcogenides via chemical vapor deposition for electrochemical hydrogen generation

TY - JOUR

T1 - On the synthesis of morphology-controlled transition metal dichalcogenides via chemical vapor deposition for electrochemical hydrogen generation

AU - Sharma, Rahul

AU - Sahoo, Krishna Rani

AU - Rastogi, Pankaj Kumar

AU - Biroju, Ravi K.

AU - Theis, Wolfgang

AU - Narayanan, Tharangattu N.

PY - 2019/12

Y1 - 2019/12

N2 - Shape-engineered atomically thin transition metal dichalcogenide (TMD) crystals are highly intriguing systems with regard to both fundamental and applied science. Herein, a chemical vapor deposition-assisted generalized synthesis strategy for the triangular- and dendritic-shaped TMDs and their ternary alloys is proposed, and the TMD structures' potential for electrocatalytic hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) applications is demonstrated. The alloy formation is confirmed via micro-Raman and photoluminescence studies and further verified using transmission electron microscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The HER activities of MoS 2 and MoSe 2 triangles are compared with those of their dendritic structures, and an enormous improvement in terms of overpotential and current density is observed for the dendritic structures. A further enhancement of the HER activity is observed in MoS 2(1−x)Se 2x triangular and dendritic structures, with dendritic MoS 2(1−x)Se 2x providing the best activity. The demonstrated nonequilibrium growth technique opens new avenues for the synthesis of morphology-controlled, large area, complex, and atomically thin TMD structures, which can have unprecedented properties, such as the enormous catalytic activity, tunable luminescence, etc., as presented in this article.

AB - Shape-engineered atomically thin transition metal dichalcogenide (TMD) crystals are highly intriguing systems with regard to both fundamental and applied science. Herein, a chemical vapor deposition-assisted generalized synthesis strategy for the triangular- and dendritic-shaped TMDs and their ternary alloys is proposed, and the TMD structures' potential for electrocatalytic hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) applications is demonstrated. The alloy formation is confirmed via micro-Raman and photoluminescence studies and further verified using transmission electron microscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The HER activities of MoS 2 and MoSe 2 triangles are compared with those of their dendritic structures, and an enormous improvement in terms of overpotential and current density is observed for the dendritic structures. A further enhancement of the HER activity is observed in MoS 2(1−x)Se 2x triangular and dendritic structures, with dendritic MoS 2(1−x)Se 2x providing the best activity. The demonstrated nonequilibrium growth technique opens new avenues for the synthesis of morphology-controlled, large area, complex, and atomically thin TMD structures, which can have unprecedented properties, such as the enormous catalytic activity, tunable luminescence, etc., as presented in this article.

KW - atomically thin alloys

KW - chemical vapor deposition

KW - dendritic structures

KW - hydrogen evolution

KW - transition metal dichalcogenides

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85068791283&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1002/pssr.201900257

DO - 10.1002/pssr.201900257

M3 - Article

VL - 13

SP - 1

EP - 10

JO - Physica Status Solidi - Rapid Research Letters

JF - Physica Status Solidi - Rapid Research Letters

SN - 1862-6254

IS - 12

M1 - 1900257

ER -