Electric field and photoelectrical effect bi-enhanced hydrogen evolution reaction

Molybdenum disulfide (MoS₂) is an earth-abundant and low-cost hydrogen evolving electrocatalyst with the potential to replace traditional noble metal catalysts. The catalytic activity can be significantly enhanced after modification due to higher conductivity and enriched active sites. However, the underlying mechanism of the influence of the resistance of electrode material and contact resistance on the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) process is unclear. Herein, we present a systematic study to understand the relationship between HER performance and electrode conductivity, which is bi-tuned through the electric field and photoelectrical effect. It was found that the onset overpotential consistently decreased with the increase of electrode conductivity. In addition, the reduction of the contact resistance resulted in a quicker electrochemical reaction process than enhancing the conductivity of the MoS₂ nanosheet. An onset overpotential of 89 mV was achieved under 60 mW/cm² sunlight illumination (0.6 sun) and a simultaneous gate voltage of 3 V. These physical strategies can also be applied to other catalysts, and offer new directions to improve HER catalytic performance of semiconductor materials.