Issue 30, 2019

Two-dimensional MoS2/Fe-phthalocyanine hybrid nanostructures as excellent electrocatalysts for hydrogen evolution and oxygen reduction reactions

Abstract

Two-dimensional (2D) MoS2 nanostructures have been extensively investigated in recent years because of their fascinating electrocatalytic properties. Herein, we report 2D hybrid nanostructures consisting of 1T′ phase MoS2 and Fe-phthalocyanine (FePc) molecules that exhibit excellent catalytic activity toward both the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and oxygen reduction reaction (ORR). X-ray absorption spectra revealed an increased Fe–N distance (2.04 Å) in the hybrid complex relative to the isolated FePc. Spin-polarized density functional theory calculations predicted that the Fe center moves toward the MoS2 layer and induces a non-planar structure with an increased Fe–N distance of 2.05 Å, which supports the experimental results. The experiments and calculations consistently show a significant charge transfer from FePc to stabilize the hybrid complex. The excellent HER catalytic performance of FePc-MoS2 is characterized by a low Tafel slope of 32 mV dec−1 at a current density of 10 mA cm−2 and an overpotential of 0.123 V. The ORR catalytic activity is superior to that of the commercial Pt/C catalyst in pH 13 electrolyte, with a more positive half-wave potential (0.89 vs. 0.84 V), a smaller Tafel slope (35 vs. 87 mV·dec−1), and a much better durability (9.3% vs. 40% degradation after 20 h). Such remarkable catalytic activity is ascribed to the HER-active 1T′ phase MoS2 and the ORR-active nonplanar Fe–N4 site of FePc.

Graphical abstract: Two-dimensional MoS2/Fe-phthalocyanine hybrid nanostructures as excellent electrocatalysts for hydrogen evolution and oxygen reduction reactions

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
16 May 2019
Accepted
03 Jul 2019
First published
03 Jul 2019

Nanoscale, 2019,11, 14266-14275

Two-dimensional MoS2/Fe-phthalocyanine hybrid nanostructures as excellent electrocatalysts for hydrogen evolution and oxygen reduction reactions

I. S. Kwon, I. H. Kwak, J. Y. Kim, H. G. Abbas, T. T. Debela, J. Seo, M. K. Cho, J. Ahn, J. Park and H. S. Kang, Nanoscale, 2019, 11, 14266 DOI: 10.1039/C9NR04156G

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