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Research Article

Exfoliation of bulk 2H-MoS2 into bilayer 1T-phase nanosheets via ether-induced superlattices

Xiuling Shi1,§, Dongmei Lin2,§, Zhuorui Xiao1, Yibo Weng1, Hanxiang Zhou1, Xiaoying Long1, Zhiyu Ding1, Fuyuan Liang1, Yan Huang1, Guohua Chen2,3, Kaikai Li1( ), Tong-Yi Zhang4( )
School of Materials Science and Engineering, Harbin Institute of Technology, Shenzhen 518055, China
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Research Institute for Smart Energy, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong, China
School of Energy and Environment, City University of Hong Kong, Tat Chee Avenue, Kowloon, Hong Kong, China
The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (Guangzhou), Guangzhou Municipal Key Laboratory of Materials Informatics, Advanced Materials Thrust and Sustainable Energy and Environment Thrust, Nansha, Guangzhou 511400, China

§ Xiuling Shi and Dongmei Lin contributed equally to this work.

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Graphical Abstract

Molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) undergoes a phase transition to superlattice upon lithiation in ether electrolyte, which enables controllable exfoliation of MoS2 into few-layer nanosheets for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER).

Abstract

The exfoliation of bulk 2H-molybdenum disulfide (2H-MoS2) into few-layer nanosheets with 1T-phase and controlled layers represents a daunting challenge towards the device applications of MoS2. Conventional ion intercalation assisted exfoliation needs the use of hazardous n-butyllithium and/or elaborate control of the intercalation potential to avoid the decomposition of the MoS2. This work reports a facile strategy by intercalating Li ions electrochemically with ether-based electrolyte into the van der Waals (vdW) channels of MoS2, which successfully avoids the decomposition of MoS2 at low potentials. The co-intercalation of Li+ and the ether solvent into MoS2 makes a first-order phase transformation, forming a superlattice phase, which preserves the layered structure and hence enables the exfoliation of bulk 2H-MoS2 into bilayer nanosheets with 1T-phase. Compared with the pristine 2H-MoS2, the bilayer 1T-MoS2 nanosheets exhibit better electrocatalytic performance for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). This facile method should be easily extended to the exfoliation of various transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs).

Keywords

exfoliation of MoS2phase transformationssuperlatticesether electrolytehydrogen evolution reaction (HER)

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Nano Research
Volume 17 Issue 6,
June 2024
Pages 5705-5711
DOI: 10.1007/s12274-024-6446-3
Cite this article:
Shi X, Lin D, Xiao Z, et al. Exfoliation of bulk 2H-MoS2 into bilayer 1T-phase nanosheets via ether-induced superlattices. Nano Research, 2024, 17(6): 5705-5711. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12274-024-6446-3
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Hydrogen production

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Received: 11 November 2023
Revised: 10 December 2023
Accepted: 22 December 2023
Published: 25 January 2024
© Tsinghua University Press 2024
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