2D MoTe2 nanomesh with a large surface area and uniform pores for highly active hydrogen evolution catalysis

Abstract

A kind of MoTe2 nanomesh material via nanocasting stratagem using KIT-6 silica as a hard template was syn-thesized. The advantage of the MoTe2 nanomesh is the large specific area (75 m(2)/g), a few-layer structure (3 layers), and uniform pores (5-6 nm), which effectively improves both electrocatalytic and hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) performances. Specifically, the MoTe2 nanomesh provided outstanding electrocatalytic activity with an overpotential of-300 mV for HER at-10 mA/cm(2) and a small Tafel slope of 62 mV/dec. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations were investigated to optimize stable configuration and possible reaction pathways. This research provides a new insight for improving the catalytic performance of 2D TMD catalysts in electrochemical reactions.