Nanostructured molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) has been considered as one of the most promising catalysts in the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER), for its approximately intermediate hydrogen binding free energy to noble metals and much lower cost. The catalytically active sites of MoS2 are along the edges, whereas thermodynamically MoS2 favors the presence of a two-dimensional (2-D) basal plane and the catalytically active atoms only constitute a small portion of the material. The lack of catalytically active sites and low catalytic efficiency impede its massive application. To address the issue, we have activated the basal plane of monolayer 2H MoS2 through an ultrathin alumina mask (UTAM)-assisted nanopore arrays patterning, creating a high edge density. The introduced catalytically active sites are identified by Cu electrochemical deposition, and the hydrogen generation properties are assessed in detail. We demonstrate a remarkably improved HER performance as well as the identical catalysis of the artificial edges and the pristine metallic edges of monolayer MoS2. Such a porous monolayer nanostructure can achieve a much higher edge atom ratio than the pristine monolayer MoS2 flakes, which can lead to a much improved catalytic efficiency. This controllable edge engineering can also be extended to the basal plane modifications of other 2-D materials, for improving their edge-related properties.
Keywords: catalytic efficiency; hydrogen evolution reaction; molybdenum disulfide; nanopore arrays; ultrathin alumina mask.