Issue 35, 2020

Covalently functionalized layered MoS2 supported Pd nanoparticles as highly active oxygen reduction electrocatalysts

Abstract

Molybdenum disulfide nanosheets covalently modified with a 1,2-dithiolane derivative were used as a novel substrate for the immobilization of Pd nanoparticles (PdNPs) towards the development of a highly efficient hybrid electrocatalyst, namely PdNPs/f-MoS2, for the oxygen reduction in an alkaline medium. The newly prepared hybrid material was thoroughly characterized through complementary techniques such as Raman and IR spectroscopy, TGA, HRTEM, STEM/EELS, and EDS. The PdNPs/f-MoS2 nanohybrid exhibited excellent performance towards oxygen electroreduction with a positive onset potential of +0.066 V and a half-wave potential of −0.116 V vs. Hg/HgO, along with a high current response, which are superior to those of its graphene counterpart and comparable to those of the benchmark Pd/C product. Moreover, PdNPs/f-MoS2 was proved to be remarkably stable as chronoamperometric assays showed minimum activity loss among the tested materials, clearly outperforming the commercial catalyst. The excellent performance of PdNPs/f-MoS2 is attributable to (i) the high affinity of the catalytic PdNPs with the f-MoS2 substrate, (ii) the absence of any capping agent for the stabilization of PdNPs onto f-MoS2, and more importantly (iii) the preservation of the integrity of the MoS2 basal plane during the functionalization process. Lastly, the oxygen reduction on PdNPs/f-MoS2 proceeded through the energy efficient four-electron pathway, showing great potential for the use of layered transition metal dichalcogenides in energy conversion applications, comprising fuel cells.

Graphical abstract: Covalently functionalized layered MoS2 supported Pd nanoparticles as highly active oxygen reduction electrocatalysts

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
11 Jun 2020
Accepted
06 Aug 2020
First published
06 Aug 2020
This article is Open Access
Creative Commons BY-NC license

Nanoscale, 2020,12, 18278-18288

Covalently functionalized layered MoS2 supported Pd nanoparticles as highly active oxygen reduction electrocatalysts

D. K. Perivoliotis, Y. Sato, K. Suenaga and N. Tagmatarchis, Nanoscale, 2020, 12, 18278 DOI: 10.1039/D0NR04446F

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