Modification 1T-MoS2 with surface ions towards electrocatalytic hydrogen evolution reaction

Molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) is considered as a thriving and cost-efficient electrocatalyst for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). Unfortunately, the semiconductor phase of 2H-MoS2 itself has a conservative electronic intrinsic transport rate and the restricted active sites to edge regions, leading to unsatisfactory electrocatalytic performance of HER. Here, we have fabricated highly conductive metal phase 1T-MoS2 nanosheets by a hydrothermal method and introduced a series of transition metal ions on their surfaces by an in-situ reduction strategy to achieve MoS2 surface modification. It was found that the metals Ni and Co not only enhanced the intrinsic conductivity of 1T-MoS2, but also significantly increased the number of active sites in the catalyst, which resulted in the catalyst exhibiting excellent HER activity. Ni@1T-MoS2 exhibits fast reaction kinetics (86 mV·dec-1), good mechanical stability (~28 h) and low energy consumption in 1.0 M KOH medium, as well as an over-potential of only 187 mV at 50 mA·cm-2.