Recent advances in structural engineering of molybdenum disulfide for electrocatalytic hydrogen evolution reaction

Abstract Developing earth-abundant electrocatalysts to realize sustainable hydrogen production through electrolytic water splitting is urgently demanded for facing global energy and environmental crisis. Recently, nanostructured molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) has received remarkable focus on hydrogen generation owing to its low price, high specific surface area, and abundant active sites. Moreover, MoS2 has been deemed to the promising electrocatalyst to replace platinum (Pt)-based catalysts. Nevertheless, the industrial utilization of MoS2 for electrochemical hydrogen production is hindered by the inert basal surface and poor electron transfer. Consequently, in this review, emphasis is given on summarizing and comparing the structural engineering strategies for activating MoS2 in detail, including edge engineering and disorder engineering. Moreover, theoretical analyses based on hydrogen adsorption free energy, d-band center theory, energy level matching are epitomized and used for revealing the HER mechanism of MoS2. Finally, comprehensive summaries and outlook in developing MoS2 as earth-abundant HER electrocatalyst are also discussed.