MoP nanoparticles with a P-rich outermost atomic layer embedded in N-doped porous carbon nanofibers： Self-supported electrodes for efficient hydrogen generation

Despite being pursued for a long time, hydrogen production via water splitting is still a huge challenge mainly due to a lack of durable and efficient catalysts. Molybdenum phosphide （MOP） is theoretically capable of efficient hydrogen evolution reaction （HER） catalysis, however, there is still room for further improvement in its performance. Herein, we propose a design for MoP with a P-rich outermost atomic layer for enhancing HER via complementary theoretical and experimental validation. The correlation of computational results suggests that the P-terminated surface of MoP plays a crucial role in determining its high-efficiency catalytic properties. We fabricated a P-rich outermost atomic layer of MoP nanoparticles by using N-doped porous carbon （MoP@NPCNFs） to capture more P on the surface of MoP and limit the growth of nanoparticles. Further, the as-prepared material can be directly employed as a self-supported electrocatalyst, and it exhibits remarkable electrocatalytic activity for HER in acidic media; it also reveals excellent long-term durability for up to 5,000 cycles with negligible loss of catalytic activity.

Recent progress in atomic layer deposition of molybdenum disulfide:a mini review

As a kind of specially modified chemical vapor deposition (CVD), atom ic layer deposition (ALD) has long been used to fabricate thin films. The self-limiting reaction of ALD endows the films with excellent uniformity and precise controllability. The thickness o f the tilms obtained by ALD can be controlled in an atom ic scale (0.1 nm) on a large-area substrate even with complex structures. Therefore, it has recently been employed to produce the two-dimensional (2D) materials like MoS2. In this mini-review, the research progress in ALD MoS2 is firstly summarized. Then the influences of precursors, substrates, temperature, and post-annealing treatm ent on the quality of ALD-MoS2 are presented. Moreover, the applications of the obtained MoS2 as an electrochemical catalysator are also described. Besides the perspective on the research of ALD of MoS2, the remaining challenges and promising potentials are also pointed out.