Large-Area Buckled MoS2 Films on the Graphene Substrate

In this study, a novel buckled structure of edge oriented MoS2 films is fabricated for the first time by employing monolayer graphene as the substrate for MoS2 film growth. Compared to typical buckling methods, our technique has several advantages: (1) external forces such as heat and mechanical strain are not applied; (2) uniform and controllable buckling over a large area is possible; and (3) films are able to be transferred to a desired substrate. Dual MoS2 orientation was observed in the buckled film where horizontally aligned MoS2 layers of 7 nm thickness were present near the bottom graphene surface and vertically aligned layers dominated the film toward the outer surface, in which the alignment structure was uniform across the entire film. The catalytic ability of the buckled MoS2 films, measured by performing water splitting tests in acidic environments, shows a reduced onset potential of -0.2 V versus reversible hydrogen electrode (RHE) compared to -0.32 V versus RHE for pristine MoS2, indicating that the rough surface provided a higher catalytic activity. Our work presents a new method to generate a buckled MoS2 structure, which may be extended to the formation of buckled structures in various 2D materials for future applications.