High Edge Selectivity of In Situ Electrochemical Pt Deposition on Edge‐Rich Layered WS₂ Nanosheets

Abstract

Recent studies show that the Pt electrode can be slowly dissolved into the acidic media and regenerate on the working electrode along with the long-time hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) test. However, to date, the relationship between the Pt deposition and the intrinsic properties of the working electrode remains elusive. Herein, for the first time, the edge selectivity of in situ electrochemical Pt deposition on layered 2H-WS nanosheets, whose edge surface with rich dangling bonds is chemically active to regulate their properties, especially the interfacial reaction occurring between the electrode surface and the adjacent thin layer of the solution, is theoretically elucidated and experimentally verified by controlling the cathode polarization test using Pt wire as the counter electrode in H SO solution. It is revealed that the layered WS nanosheets with rich exposed edges show much stronger interaction with Pt atoms because the terminated S or S ligands on the edge exhibit much lower binding energy for Pt atoms compared with the apical S ligands on the terrace surface. The in situ electrochemical Pt-deposited WS nanosheets with rich exposed edges can act as a highly active hybrid electrocatalyst to accelerate HER kinetics and exhibit commercial Pt-like HER performance, especially in the alkaline media.

Synthesis of a MoSx–O–PtOx Electrocatalyst with High Hydrogen Evolution Activity Using a Sacrificial Counter‐Electrode

“…The four coordinated O atoms around the central Pt ion formed a square planar structure with D 4h symmetry. The adsorption energies indicate that PtO x clusters will be preferentially deposited on the edge sites rather than other regions of the MoS 2 nanostrips, in agreement with previous reports . Figure a displays the 3D structure of Pt 6 O 9 generated on the bare edge of MoS 2 , while Figure b–d shows the geometric models after optimization, in which a Pt 6 O 9 cluster is deposited on the disulfide terminal edge sites of MoS 2 nanosheets with varying levels of oxidation.…”

Recent Advances in Layered Tungsten Disulfide as Electrocatalyst for Water Splitting

“…Usually, a small number of noble metals elements are deposited on other catalysts by certain methods to improve the electrocatalytic performance. Tang et al [193] deposited precious metal Pt on edge-enriched layered WS 2 nanosheets by hydrothermal and electrodeposition methods. The XPS and DFT (Figure 23ac) results demonstrated that the S 2À ligand of WS 2 (ER-WS 2 ) with abundantly exposed edges had much lower binding energy to platinum atoms than that of ligands at other positions.…”

“…The construction of the heterojunction mainly achieves the following purposes: (1) The suitable material is selected as a template for structural control; Reproduced with permission. [193] Copyright 2017, Wiley-VCH.…”

Rational Design of Atomic Layers of Pt Anchored on Mo2C Nanorods for Efficient Hydrogen Evolution over a Wide pH Range

“…X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) studies were performed to probe the surface composition and valence states of Pt/Mo 2 C. Figure c reveals that the peaks center at 71.78 and 72.78 eV. The latter is contributed to Pt 2+ states and the former is ≈0.2 eV higher energy than metallic Pt, thus denoting Pt δ + . The concentrations of Pt δ + and Pt 2+ were calculated based on the peak area.…”