Incorporation of active phase in porous MoS2 for enhanced hydrogen evolution reaction

Molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) has been considered to be a promising electrocatalyst for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). Incorporation of 1 T phase is a strategy to allow basal planes of MoS2 nanosheets simultaneously possess highly active catalytic sites and metallic property. This strategy requires as many basal planes as possible to be exposed to the surface, thus enabling the active sites on the basal planes to participate in the catalytic reaction. Herein, we report a porous ultra-thin 1 T phase MoS2 (1 T-MoS2) nanosheets prepared by a SiO2 nanospheres template method. Ultra-thin MoS2 nanosheets grow laterally around the surface of SiO2 nanospheres. After etching SiO2, the rest porous ultra-thin MoS2 nanosheets ensure the maximized exposure of basal plane active sites. In addition, the metallic porous structure can also facilitate transport of mass in holes and transfer of electron on basal planes. The synergistic effect of these aspects endows our sample with improved hydrogen evolution capability. The onset overpotential at 1 mA/cm2 is 131 mV, and the corresponding Tafel slope is 63 mV/dec.