Department of Chemical Engineering, Stanford University, Stanford, California 94305, USA.
Nat Mater. 2012 Nov;11(11):963-9. doi: 10.1038/nmat3439. Epub 2012 Oct 7.
Controlling surface structure at the atomic scale is paramount to developing effective catalysts. For example, the edge sites of MoS(2) are highly catalytically active and are thus preferred at the catalyst surface over MoS(2) basal planes, which are inert. However, thermodynamics favours the presence of the basal plane, limiting the number of active sites at the surface. Herein, we engineer the surface structure of MoS(2) to preferentially expose edge sites to effect improved catalysis by successfully synthesizing contiguous large-area thin films of a highly ordered double-gyroid MoS(2) bicontinuous network with nanoscaled pores. The high surface curvature of this catalyst mesostructure exposes a large fraction of edge sites, which, along with its high surface area, leads to excellent activity for electrocatalytic hydrogen evolution. This work elucidates how morphological control of materials at the nanoscale can significantly impact the surface structure at the atomic scale, enabling new opportunities for enhancing surface properties for catalysis and other important technological applications.
控制原子尺度的表面结构对于开发有效的催化剂至关重要。例如，MoS(2)的边缘位是高度催化活性的，因此在催化剂表面上优先于MoS(2)基面，后者是惰性的。然而，热力学有利于基面的存在，限制了表面上的活性位数量。在此，我们通过成功合成具有纳米级孔的高度有序的双回旋 MoS(2)双连续网络的连续大面积薄膜，来设计 MoS(2)的表面结构，以优先暴露边缘位，从而实现改进的催化作用。这种催化剂介观结构的高表面曲率暴露了很大一部分边缘位，加上其高表面积，导致电催化析氢具有优异的活性。这项工作阐明了如何通过纳米尺度的材料形态控制显著影响原子尺度的表面结构，为提高催化和其他重要技术应用的表面性能提供了新的机会。
