Rolltronics represents an emerging curvature engineering paradigm utilizing van der Waals nanoscrolls to tailor material properties beyond planar twistronic systems. Rolltronics modulation holds great promise as a new platform to advance the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) activity of MoS₂. Here, we designed 1T-MoS₂ nanoscrolls via asymmetric stress induced by the different defect densities on opposite surfaces of MoS₂ sheets to serve as highly efficient HER catalyst. In the dye-sensitized photocatalytic system with Eosin Y (EY) serving as the photosensitizer ,and triethanolamine (TEOA) acts as the sacrificial electron donor to regenerate EY and sustain the photocatalytic cycle, the 1T-MoS₂ nanoscrolls exhibited extraordinary HER activity with 24.1 mmol g⁻¹ h⁻¹ under UV-visible light, which is nearly 25 times higher than that of the semiconducting pristine 2H-MoS₂ nanosheets. This superior activity originates from the synergistic effects of abundant active sites exposed by S-vacancies, enhanced charge transfer from the metallic 1T phase, and optimized hydrogen adsorption free energy (ΔG_H*). The improved HER activity of 1T-MoS₂ nanoscrolls can be mainly attributed to the metallic conductive characteristic of the 1T phase, abundant S-vacancy-derived active sites, curvature-modulated hydrogen adsorption energy, as well as facilitated mass transfer within the tubular architecture. This rolltronics engineering strategy provides a viable pathway for designing low-cost and highly efficient transition metal dichalcogenide for large-scale energy applications. 

Amorphous materials are one kind of nonequilibrium materials and have become one of the most active research fields. Compared with crystalline solids, the theory of amorphous materials is still in infancy because their characteristic of atomic arrangement is more like liquid and has no long-range periodicity. Recently, as the representative of amorphous materials, amorphous molybdenum sulfide (a-MoS_x) with unique physical and chemical properties has been studied extensively. However, considerable debate surrounds the structure–property relationships of a-MoS_x owing to its diverse Mo-S motifs. Herein, we summarize recent discoveries and research results regarding a-MoS_x, whose structural characteristics, synthetic strategies, formation criteria, and comprehensive applications are discussed in detail. Finally, this review is ended with our personal insights and critical outlooks over the development of a-MoS_x.

Defect engineering is one of the effective strategies to optimize the physical and chemical properties of molybdenum disulfide (MoS₂) to improve catalytic hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) performance. Dislocations, as a typical defect structure, are worthy of further investigation due to the versatility and sophistication of structures and the influence of local strain effects on the catalytic performance. Herein, this study adopted a low-temperature hydrothermal synthesis strategy to introduce numerous dislocation-strained structures into the in-plane and out-of-plane of MoS₂ nanosheets. Superior HER catalytic activity of 5.85 mmol·g⁻¹·h⁻¹ under visible light was achieved based on the high-density dislocations and the corresponding strain field. This work paves a new pathway for improving the catalytic activity of MoS₂ via a dislocation-strained synergistic modulation strategy.