Metal oxide and dichalcogenide

In the pursuit of economically viable alkaline water electrolysis implementation, a fundamental requirement is the development of highly active and stable electrocatalysts made from crustal abundant metals. In recent years, transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) have gained intensive attention due to their fascinating structure, catalytic properties, chemical stability, and low cost. Since it is well known that molybdenum disulfide is a potential candidate to replace PTM-based catalysts toward alkaline HER, our research is focused on 2D-MoS2 grown on doped mesoporous carbon. 

Molybdenum sulfide nanosheets are well synthesized on carbon supports in our laboratory employing a green and fast method (see the figure below where MoS2 nanosheets are highlighted). As a matter of fact, carbonaceous materials can effectively prevent the migration and aggregation of NPs, while the presence of heteroatoms can synergistically enhance the activities of catalysts based on metallic compounds.

We are also interested in the other side of H2O electrolyzer, namely the oxygen evolution reaction (OER). This reaction is well catalysed on IrO2 and for the same reason that Pt is replaced in the cathodic side, the substitution or reduction of Ir load is needed. The strategy that we propose is the dispersion of IrO2 on another metal oxide such as CeO2 or TiO2 in order to enhance the activity by metal-support interaction.