Journal of Energy Chemistry

Journal of Energy Chemistry ›› 2022, Vol. 74 ›› Issue (11): 45-71.DOI: 10.1016/j.jechem.2022.06.031

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Molybdenum disulfide (MoS2)-based electrocatalysts for hydrogen evolution reaction: From mechanism to manipulation

Yao Xua, Riyue Gea, Jack Yangb,c, Jiancheng Lid, Sean Lib,c,*, Ying Lia,e, Jiujun Zhange,f,*, Jing Fengg, Bin Liud, Wenxian Lia,b,c,e,*   

  1. aInstitute of Materials, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Shanghai University, Shanghai 200444, China;
    bSchool of Materials Science and Engineering, University of New South Wales, Sydney NSW 2052, Australia;
    cMaterials and Manufacturing Futures Institute, University of New South Wales, Sydney NSW 2052, Australia;
    dSchool of Materials Science and Engineering, Shanghai University, Shanghai 200444, China;
    eInstitute for Sustainable Energy, Shanghai University, Shanghai 200444, China;
    fCollege of Materials Science and Engineering, Fuzhou University, Fuzhou 350108, Fujian, China;
    gFaculty of Materials Science and Engineering, Kunming University of Science and Technology, Kunming 650093, Yunnan, China
  • Received:2022-04-29 Revised:2022-06-16 Accepted:2022-06-16 Online:2022-11-15 Published:2022-11-07
  • Contact: * E-mail addresses: sean.li@unsw.edu.au (S. Li), jiujun.zhang@i.shu.edu.cn (J. Zhang), shuliwx@t.shu.edu.cn (W. Li).
  • About author:Yao Xu got his BSc degree from Qingdao University of Science and Technology in June 2017. He is currently a Ph.D. candidate at Shanghai University, under the supervision of Prof. Wenxian Li. His research focuses on the design and synthesis of molybdenum based cata-lysts for their electrochemical hydrogen evolution reaction, oxygen evolution reaction, and overall water splitting.
    Riyue Ge received his Ph.D. degree from the School of Materials Science and Engineering at Shanghai Univer-sity, China, under the supervision of Prof. Wenxian Li. He is currently a postdoctoral research fellow at Shanghai University. His research interests focus on the synthesis, and characterization of functional nanoma-terials for photo/electrochemical applications, including hydrogen evolution reaction, oxygen evolution reaction, and overall water splitting.
    Jack Yang is currently a lecturer in the School of Materials Science and Engineering at The University of New South Wales, Australia. He received his BSc (2007) and Ph.D. (2011) from the same institute. Before returning to UNSW in 2017, he was a postdoctoral fel-low in Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster, Germany and the University of Southampton, UK. His current research focuses on theory and machine-learning-driven material studies on functional per-ovskites for electronic, photovoltaic, and energy-conversion applications.
    Jiancheng Li enrolled as a master's and doctoral degree candidate at Shanghai University in 2018 and 2020, respectively. His research focuses on the design and synthesis of nanostructured materials and their appli-cations for energy conversion.
    Sean Li received his Ph.D. degree from The University of Auckland in 1998. He was subsequently appointed as an assistant professor at Nanyang Technological Univer-sity, Singapore, and then joined The University of New South Wales in 2004. He is currently a director of UNSW Materials and Manufacturing Futures Institute. His research interest focuses on advanced functional com-plex oxides and their heterostructures.
    Ying Li is a Professor at the School for Materials Science and Engineering, Shanghai University. She received her Ph.D. from the National Chungnam University in 2001. She was a postdoctoral fellow at the Research Materials Research Center of Chungnam National University, South Korea, and National Chungnam University, South Korea from March 2001 to December 2002 and then joined Shanghai University as a professor. Her research activities include material chemistry, such as conduc-tive molecules, conductive materials, and energy materials.
    Dr. Jiujun Zhang is a Professor in College at Shanghai University, and a former Principal Research Officer at the National Research Council of Canada (NRC). Dr. Zhang is a Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Engi-neering (CAE), Fellow of The Academy of Science of The Royal Society of Canada (FRSCCA), Fellow of The Engi-neering Institute of Canada (EIC), Fellow of the Inter-national Society of Electrochemistry (ISE), and Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC-UK). Dr. Zhang received his B.S. and M.Sc. in Electrochemistry from Peking University in 1982 and 1985, respectively, and his Ph.D. in Electrochemistry from Wuhan University in 1988. Dr. Zhang's main research areas are Electrochemistry, Electrocatalysts, Fuel cells, Lithium batteries, Metal-air batteries, Supercapacitors, and H2O/CO2/N2 electrolysis.
    Jing Feng is a professor at Kunming University of Sci-ence and Technology. He received his Ph.D. degree from the Tsinghua University & Kunming University of Sci-ence and Technology. He worked at Harvard University and researched high-temperature thermal barrier coat-ings. His current research involves the use of MGI to explore high-temperature ceramics (rare earth Tantan-late, RE-Ta-O system) and bonding coating alloys.
    Bin Liu is a professor at Shanghai University. He received his Ph.D. degree from the Institute of Metal Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences. His current research involves the use of various modelling and simulation techniques to explore the structure-function relationship of high-temperature ceramics.
    Wenxian Li is a Professor at the School for Materials Science and Engineering, Shanghai University. Dr. Li received his Ph.D. from the University of Wollongong, Australia, in 2010. He got the Australian Postdoctoral Fellowship (Industrial) supported by the Australian Research Council in 2012 and then got financial support from the Australian Renewable Energy Agency as a Postdoctoral Fellowship. He joined the University of Western Sydney as a lecturer in the Solar Energy Technologies Group in November 2012. His research focuses on the electron configuration modulation induced performance optimization of function materials for renewable energy utilization.

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Abstract: Molybdenum disulfide (MoS2)-based materials as the non-noble metal catalysts have displayed the potential capability to drive electrocatalytic hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) for green hydrogen pro-duction along with their intrinsic activity, tunable electronic properties, low cost, and abundance reserves, which have attracted intensive attention as alternatives to the low-abundance and high-cost platinum-based catalysts. However, their insufficient catalytic HER activities and stability are the major challenges for them to become practically applicable. Hereby, the MoS2-based electrocatalysts for HER are comprehensively reviewed to explain the fundamental science behind the manipulations of the crys-tal structure, microstructure, surface, and interface of MoS2 in order to enhance its catalytic performance through changing the electrical conductivity, the number of active sites, surface wettability, and the Gibbs free energy for hydrogen adsorption (DGH). Recent studies in surface/interface engineering, such as phase engineering, defect engineering, morphology design, and heterostructure construction, are ana-lyzed to reveal the state-of-the-art strategies for designing and preparing the cost-effective and high-performance MoS2-based catalysts through optimizing the charge transfer, surface-active sites, DGH, and surface hydrophilicity. Lastly, the perspectives, challenges, and future research directions of HER electrocatalysis are also given to facilitate the further research and development of HER catalysts.

Key words: Surface/interface engineering, Hydrogen evolution reaction, Molybdenum disulfide, Mechanisms