One-step method to achieve multiple decorations on lamellar MoS2 to synergistically enhance the electrocatalytic HER performance

Abstract Lamellar MoS2 has attracted widespread attention as a potential electrocatalytic HER (Hydrogen evolution reaction) catalyst. However, it is difficult to further improve its catalytic activity due to two major drawbacks: the limited number of active sites and its poor conductivity. Here, we adopt a one-step method utilizing an ultrafast pulsed laser treatment to produce multiple decorations on lamellar MoS2, where nanocrystallization and amorphization of lamellar MoS2 are achieved simultaneously, along with an additional characteristic of atomic steps. Due to this special microstructure, laser-treated MoS2 exhibits excellent electrocatalytic performance with a low overpotential and a small Tafel slope (217 mV @ 10 mA cm−2 and 74.5 mV dec−1, respectively), which is superior to that of untreated lamellar MoS2 (461 mV @ 10 mA cm−2 and 142.6 mV dec−1, respectively). The MoS2 prepared in this way has a high catalytic activity and a high stability, which indicates potential for electrocatalysis applications.