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The phase transition of single layer molybdenum disulphide (MoS 2 ) from semi-conducting 2H to metallic 1T and then to 1T' phases, and the effect of the phase transition on hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) are investigated within this work by density functional theory. Experimentally, 2H-MoS 2 has been widely used as an excellent electrode for HER and can get charged easily. Here we find that the negative charge has a significant impact on the structural phase transition in a MoS 2 monolayer. The thermodynamic stability of 1T-MoS 2 increases with the negative charge state, comparing with the 2H-MoS 2 structure before phase transition and the kinetic energy barrier for a phase transition from 2H to 1T decreases from 1.59 eV to 0.27 eV when 4 e -are injected per MoS 2 unit. Additionally, 1T phase is found to transform into the distorted structure (1T' phase) spontaneously. On their activity toward hydrogen evolution reaction, 1T'-MoS 2 structure hydrogen coverage shows comparable hydrogen evolution reaction activity to the 2H-MoS 2 structure. If the charge transfer kinetics is taken into account, the catalytic activity of 1T'-MoS 2 is superior to that of 2H-MoS 2 . Our finding provides a possible novel method for phase transition of MoS 2 , and enriches understanding of the catalytic properties of MoS 2 for HER.

Recently, partially ionic boron (γ-B28) has been predicted and observed in pure boron, in bulk phase and controlled by pressure [ Nature 2009 , 457 , 863 ]. By using ab initio evolutionary structure search, we report the prediction of ionic boron at a reduced dimension and ambient pressure, namely, the two-dimensional (2D) ionic boron. This 2D boron structure consists of graphene-like plane and B2 atom pairs with the P6/mmm space group and six atoms in the unit cell and has lower energy than the previously reported α-sheet structure and its analogues. Its dynamical and thermal stability are confirmed by the phonon-spectrum and ab initio molecular dynamics simulation. In addition, this phase exhibits double Dirac cones with massless Dirac Fermions due to the significant charge transfer between the graphene-like plane and B2 pair that enhances the energetic stability of the P6/mmm boron. A Fermi velocity (vf) as high as 2.3 × 10(6) m/s, which is even higher than that of graphene (0.82 × 10(6) m/s), is predicted for the P6/mmm boron. The present work is the first report of the 2D ionic boron at atmospheric pressure. The unique electronic structure renders the 2D ionic boron a promising 2D material for applications in nanoelectronics.

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The inability of membranes to handle a wide spectrum of pollutants is an important unsolved problem for water treatment. Here we demonstrate water desalination via a membrane distillation process using a graphene membrane where water permeation is enabled by nanochannels of multilayer, mismatched, partially overlapping graphene grains. Graphene films derived from renewable oil exhibit significantly superior retention of water vapour flux and salt rejection rates, and a superior antifouling capability under a mixture of saline water containing contaminants such as oils and surfactants, compared to commercial distillation membranes. Moreover, real-world applicability of our membrane is demonstrated by processing sea water from Sydney Harbour over 72 h with macroscale membrane size of 4 cm2, processing ~0.5 L per day. Numerical simulations show that the channels between the mismatched grains serve as an effective water permeation route. Our research will pave the way for large-scale graphene-based antifouling membranes for diverse water treatment applications.