Direct growth of high-content 1T phase MoS2 film by pulsed laser deposition for hydrogen evolution reaction

The modified MoS2-based material, with a higher conductivity and rich active sites, is promising one of a variety of nonprecious-metal electrocatalysts for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). Here, the bulk MoS2 is exfoliated to form small-size MoS2 clusters by pulse laser, which are diluted in solid sulfur and further to form porous film. The 1T phase MoS2 ratio in the prepared film was modulated by adding the different content of sulfur into MoS2 target. Besides, this addition also has an effect on the pore structure of films. Finally, the obtained high-content 1T phase MoS2 film provides the highly metallic conductivity and more active sites, which results in the more enhanced HER catalytic activity with a lower Tafel slope of 38 mV dec−1, a smaller overpotential of 151 mV at 10 mA cm−2, compared with the pure MoS2 film.