Identification of active edge sites for electrochemical H2 evolution from MoS2 nanocatalysts.
The identification of the active sites in heterogeneous catalysis requires a combination of surface sensitive methods and reactivity studies. We determined the active site for hydrogen evolution, a reaction catalyzed by precious metals, on nanoparticulate molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) by atomically resolving the surface of this catalyst before measuring electrochemical activity in solution. By preparing MoS2 nanoparticles of different sizes, we systematically varied the distribution of surface sites on MoS2 nanoparticles on Au(111), which we quantified with scanning tunneling microscopy. Electrocatalytic activity measurements for hydrogen evolution correlate linearly with the number of edge sites on the MoS2 catalyst.
Jaramillo
Thomas F
TF
Center for Individual Nanoparticle Functionality, Department of Physics, Nano-DTU, Technical University of Denmark, DK-2800 Lyngby, Denmark.
Jørgensen
Kristina P
KP
Bonde
Jacob
J
Nielsen
Jane H
JH
Horch
Sebastian
S
Chorkendorff
Ib
I