Application of chemical vapor–deposited monolayer ReSe2 in the electrocatalytic hydrogen evolution reaction

Controlled synthesis of structurally anisotropic rhenium diselenide (ReSe2) with macroscopically uniform and strictly monolayer thickness as well as tunable domain shape/size is of great interest for electronics-, optoelectronics-, and electrocatalysis-related applications. Herein, we describe the controlled synthesis of uniform monolayer ReSe2 flakes with variable morphology (sunflower- or truncated-triangle-shaped) on SiO2/Si substrates using different ambient-pressure chemical vapor deposition (CVD) setups. The prepared polycrystalline ReSe2 flakes were transferred intact onto Au foil electrodes and tested for activity in the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). Interestingly, compared to the compact truncated-triangle-shaped ReSe2 flakes, their edge-abundant sunflower-shaped counterparts exhibited superior electrocatalytic HER activity, featuring a relatively low Tafel slope of ∼76 mV/dec and an exchange current density of 10.5 μA/cm2. Thus, our work demonstrates that CVD-grown ReSe2 is a promising two-dimensional anisotropic material for applications in the electrocatalytic HER.

[1]  Peng Zhou,et al.  Tunable Ambipolar Polarization-Sensitive Photodetectors Based on High-Anisotropy ReSe2 Nanosheets. , 2016, ACS nano.

[2]  Zhengxin Fei,et al.  Direct identification of monolayer rhenium diselenide by an individual diffraction pattern , 2016, Nano Research.

[3]  Jakob Kibsgaard,et al.  Engineering the surface structure of MoS2 to preferentially expose active edge sites for electrocatalysis. , 2012, Nature materials.

[4]  C. V. Singh,et al.  Vertically Oriented Arrays of ReS2 Nanosheets for Electrochemical Energy Storage and Electrocatalysis. , 2016, Nano letters.

[5]  A. Krasheninnikov,et al.  Single-Layer ReS₂: Two-Dimensional Semiconductor with Tunable In-Plane Anisotropy. , 2015, ACS nano.

[6]  Kaiqiang Liu,et al.  Tellurium‐Assisted Epitaxial Growth of Large‐Area, Highly Crystalline ReS2 Atomic Layers on Mica Substrate , 2016, Advanced materials.

[7]  Li Yang,et al.  Quasiparticle band gaps, excitonic effects, and anisotropic optical properties of the monolayer distorted 1 T diamond-chain structures ReS 2 and ReSe 2 , 2015, 1508.03400.

[8]  Thomas F. Jaramillo,et al.  Identification of Active Edge Sites for Electrochemical H2 Evolution from MoS2 Nanocatalysts , 2007, Science.

[9]  Zhenxing Wang,et al.  Sulfur vacancy activated field effect transistors based on ReS2 nanosheets. , 2015, Nanoscale.

[10]  J. Kong,et al.  Epitaxial growth of large-area and highly crystalline anisotropic ReSe2 atomic layer , 2017, Nano Research.

[11]  Jeong Ho Cho,et al.  Ambipolar transport based on CVD-synthesized ReSe2 , 2017 .

[12]  Jingyu Sun,et al.  Controllable growth and transfer of monolayer MoS2 on Au foils and its potential application in hydrogen evolution reaction. , 2014, ACS nano.

[13]  Yanrong Li,et al.  Self-assembled chrysanthemum-like microspheres constructed by few-layer ReSe2 nanosheets as a highly efficient and stable electrocatalyst for hydrogen evolution reaction , 2017 .

[14]  Sara E. C. Dale,et al.  Rhenium Dichalcogenides: Layered Semiconductors with Two Vertical Orientations. , 2016, Nano letters.

[15]  Zhongfan Liu,et al.  Chemical vapor deposition of monolayer WS2 nanosheets on Au foils toward direct application in hydrogen evolution , 2015, Nano Research.

[16]  A. Tuxen,et al.  Structure and electronic properties of in situ synthesized single-layer MoS2 on a gold surface. , 2014, ACS nano.

[17]  Hua Xu,et al.  Identifying the crystalline orientation of black phosphorus using angle-resolved polarized Raman spectroscopy. , 2015, Angewandte Chemie.

[18]  Charlie Tsai,et al.  Tuning the MoS₂ edge-site activity for hydrogen evolution via support interactions. , 2014, Nano letters.

[19]  F. Xia,et al.  Interlayer interactions in anisotropic atomically thin rhenium diselenide , 2015, Nano Research.

[20]  Wang Yao,et al.  Valley polarization in MoS2 monolayers by optical pumping. , 2012, Nature nanotechnology.

[21]  C. Xia,et al.  Enhanced rectification, transport property and photocurrent generation of multilayer ReSe2/MoS2 p–n heterojunctions , 2016, Nano Research.

[22]  Sefaattin Tongay,et al.  Layer-dependent electrical and optoelectronic responses of ReSe2 nanosheet transistors. , 2014, Nanoscale.

[23]  S. Berciaud,et al.  Splitting of Interlayer Shear Modes and Photon Energy Dependent Anisotropic Raman Response in N-Layer ReSe₂ and ReS₂. , 2015, ACS nano.

[24]  Sungjoo Lee,et al.  Broad Detection Range Rhenium Diselenide Photodetector Enhanced by (3‐Aminopropyl)Triethoxysilane and Triphenylphosphine Treatment , 2016, Advanced materials.

[25]  Aaron M. Jones,et al.  Highly anisotropic and robust excitons in monolayer black phosphorus. , 2014, Nature nanotechnology.

[26]  Wang Yao,et al.  Spin and pseudospins in layered transition metal dichalcogenides , 2014, Nature Physics.

[27]  Jingbo Li,et al.  Tuning the optical, magnetic, and electrical properties of ReSe2 by nanoscale strain engineering. , 2015, Nano letters.

[28]  J. Shan,et al.  Atomically thin MoS₂: a new direct-gap semiconductor. , 2010, Physical review letters.

[29]  T. Zhai,et al.  Chemical Vapor Deposition Synthesis of Ultrathin Hexagonal ReSe2 Flakes for Anisotropic Raman Property and Optoelectronic Application , 2016, Advanced materials.

[30]  D. Late,et al.  MoS2 and WS2 analogues of graphene. , 2010, Angewandte Chemie.

[31]  A. Jindal,et al.  Synthesis and Characterization of ReS2 and ReSe2 Layered Chalcogenide Single Crystals. , 2016 .

[32]  Jianping Shi,et al.  Substrate effect on the growth of monolayer dendritic MoS2 on LaAlO3 (100) and its electrocatalytic applications , 2016 .

[33]  N. Xu,et al.  Monolayer MoS2 Dendrites on a Symmetry‐Disparate SrTiO3 (001) Substrate: Formation Mechanism and Interface Interaction , 2016 .

[34]  Zhongfan Liu,et al.  Periodic Modulation of the Doping Level in Striped MoS₂ Superstructures. , 2016, ACS nano.

[35]  Hao Wu,et al.  Few-layer molybdenum disulfide transistors and circuits for high-speed flexible electronics , 2014, Nature Communications.

[36]  Qing Hua Wang,et al.  Electronics and optoelectronics of two-dimensional transition metal dichalcogenides. , 2012, Nature nanotechnology.

[37]  Daniel Wolverson,et al.  Raman spectra of monolayer, few-layer, and bulk ReSe₂: an anisotropic layered semiconductor. , 2014, ACS nano.