(Ag, Au)/MoS2 as Electrocatalyst for Water Splitting and Its Thermoplamonics Effect

MoS2 has expected to become a promising non-precious metal catalyst for hydrogen evolution from water electrolysis, and its performances need to be improved by optimizing its active sites. In this paper, two-dimensional flake MoS2 was synthesized on three-dimensional conductive carbon cloth(CC) by hydrothermal method. When adjusting the reaction temperature from 200 celcius to 180 celcius, 1T phase with more active sites of MoS2 can be reserved, and the corresponding MoS2(180)/CC electrode exhibits a relatively lower hydrogen evolution overpotential. Ag/MoS2 (180)/CC and Au/MoS2(180)/CC were prepared by deposing Ag and Au nanoparticles on MoS2(180)/CC via electrochemical process, respectively. Based on characterization of scanning electron microscopy(SEM), X-ray diffraction(XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy(XPS) and measurements of polarization curves, electrochemi ⁃ cal impedance spectroscopy(EIS) and Tafel slope of the resultant electrodes with and without illustration as well as heating, it can be found that the overpotentials and current densities of Ag/MoS2(180)/CC and Au/MoS2(180)/CC can be improved due to the deposition of 20 nm Ag and 30 nm Au or the condition of irradiation, and the role of temperature rise is related to the type of metal. Furthermore, MoS2, Ag/MoS2 and Au/MoS2 models were constructed by using the COMSOL Multiphysics software, and the electric field and temperature field under illumination were simulated and calculated, confirming thermoplamonics effect of Ag and Au nanoparticles and its role in accelerating the kinetics of the electrode reaction and improving the hydrogen evolution performance of electrolyzed water.