文摘
Chemical vapor deposition (CVD) is used to grow thin films of 2D MoSb>2b> with nanostructure for catalytic applications in the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). Tailoring of the CVD parameters results in an optimized MoSb>2b> structure for the HER that consists of large MoSb>2b> platelets with smaller layered MoSb>2b> sheets growing off it in a perpendicular direction, which increases the total number of edge sites within a given geometric area. A surface area to geometric area ratio of up to ∼340 is achieved, benefiting from the edge-exposed high-porosity network structure. The optimized thickness of the MoSb>2b> film is determined for maximum performance, revealing that increasing thickness leads to increased impedance of the MoSb>2b> film and reduced current density. The current density of the optimum sample reaches as high as 60 mA/cmp>2p>b>geob> (normalized by geometric area) at an overpotential of 0.64 V vs RHE (in 0.5 M Hb>2b>SOb>4b>), with a corresponding Tafel slope of ∼90 mV/dec and exchange current density of 23 μA/cmp>2p>b>geob>. The lowered Tafel slope and large exchange current density demonstrate that the high-porosity edge-exposed MoSb>2b> network structure is promising as a HER catalyst.