Browsing by Author "Yang, Xiulin"

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Activating basal-plane catalytic activity of two-dimensional MoS2 monolayer with remote hydrogen plasma
(2016-12)
Cheng, Chia-Chin
;
Lu, Ang-Yu
;
Tseng, Chien-Chih
;
Yang, Xiulin
;
Hedhili, Mohamed Nejib
Two-dimensional layered transition metal dichalcogenide (TMD) materials such as Molybdenum disufide (MoS2) have been recognized as one of the low-cost and efficient electrocatalysts for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). The crystal edges that account for a small percentage of the surface area, rather than the basal planes, of MoS2 monolayer have been confirmed as their active catalytic sites. As a result, extensive efforts have been developing in activating the basal planes of MoS2 for enhancing their HER activity. Here, we report a simple and efficient approach using a remote hydrogen-plasma process to creating S-vacancies on the basal plane of monolayer crystalline MoS2; this process can generate high density of S-vacancies while mainly maintaining the morphology and structure of MoS2 monolayer. The density of S-vacancies (defects) on MoS2 monolayers resulted from the remote hydrogen-plasma process can be tuned and play a critical role in HER, as evidenced in the results of our spectroscopic and electrical measurements. The H-2-plasma treated MoS2 also provides an excellent platform for systematic and fundamental study of defect-property relationships in TMDs, which provides insights for future applications including electrical, optical and magnetic devices. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.