Design of 2D Layered Catalyst by Coherent Heteroepitaxial Conversion for Robust Hydrogen Generation

Abstract

The structural engineering of 2D layered materials is emerging as a powerful strategy to design catalysts for high‐performance hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). However, the ultimate test of this technology under typical operating settings lies in the reduced performance and the shortened lifespan of these catalysts. Here, a novel approach is proposed to design efficient and robust HER catalysts through out‐of‐plane deformation of 2D heterojunction using metal‐organic chemical vapor deposition. High‐yield, single‐crystalline WTe2 nanobelts are used as an epitaxial template for their coherent conversion to WS2. During the conversion process, the WTe2/WS2 heterostructure containing both lateral and vertical junctions are achieved by coherent heteroepitaxial stacking despite differences in symmetry. The lattice coherency drives out‐of‐plane deformation of heteroepitaxially grown WS2. The increase in the effective surface area and decrease in the electron‐transfer resistance across the 2D heterojunctions in turn enhances the HER performance as well as the long‐term durability of these electrocatalysts.

Two-dimensional materials for electrocatalysis and energy storage applications

“…11c). 107 Moreover, the AR-STEM images in Fig. 11d and e present a WTe 2 /WS 2 heterostructure in plan-view and cross-sectional direction.…”

“…107 Single-crystalline WTe 2 nanobelts were used as a template for the epitaxial growth of the WTe 2 –WS 2 heterostructure. 107 Interestingly, there were plentiful junctions in the lateral and vertical directions. When the temperature exceeded 700 °C, the curled WS 2 layer generated an epitaxial growth mode, while the layer-by-layer growth manner would occur to form the vital stacking warped layer.…”

“…11a). 107 Single-crystalline WTe 2 nanobelts were used as a template for the epitaxial growth of the WTe 2 -WS 2 heterostructure. 107 Interestingly, there were plentiful junctions in the lateral and vertical directions.…”

“…11i and j. 107 In recent years, highly nanostructured TMDs hybrids were widely developed to maximize the synergistic coupling effects. Gao et al reported MoS 2 /CoSe 2 hybrid catalysts with exceptional H 2 -evolving efficiency, low onset potential and high catalytic current density (Fig.…”

Recent advances in metallic transition metal dichalcogenides as electrocatalysts for hydrogen evolution reaction

“…Then, Sim et al. demonstrated that eutectic alloy-assisted growth is a promising method for the scalable production of MTMDs-based electrocatalysts, which presents the structural controlled W-based TMDs electrocatalysts with efficient HER activity via this method ( Sim et al., 2021 ).

Figure 6 [Growth of group VIB MTMDs using CVD] (A–E) Phase-controlled synthesis of MoS 2 flakes using potassium.

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