Research progress of molybdenum disulfide in electrocatalytic hydrogen evolution

Abstract

Electrochemical water splitting by electrocatalyst is one of the most promising ways for generating and utilizing hydrogen energy, and it is critical to effectively mitigate the serious energy crisis and environmental pollution. However, the widely application of electrocatalysis technology is still limited by its low conversion efficiency and high cost. For this purpose, developing electrocatalyst materials with high activity, low cost and well stability are critical to solve the above limitions. As an inexpensive and readily available two-dimensional material, molybdenum disulfide is considered as a promising candidate to replace noble metal catalysts due to its good catalytic activity for electrocatalytic hydrogen evolution, which realize the industrial application. However, the inert basal plane and low electrical conductivity of pristine MoS2 limit the further improvement of its electrocatalytic performance. In this review, starting from the mechanism of water electrolysis and the inherent feature of molybdenum disulfide electrocatalysts, the latest research progress of various modification strategies to improve the catalytic performance of MoS2 was summarized. Moreover, the intrinsic mechanism of different modification strategies in the catalytic reaction process was highlighted and their respective drawbacks were indicated. Finally, it was pointed out that the current molybdenum disulfide catalyst should be further developed towards a combination of multiple modification measures, theoretical guidance for experiments, and rapid and effective synthesis.

Keywords

• electrocatalytic hydrogen evolution
• electrocatalyst
• molybdenum disulfide
• modification strategy
• electronic structure