Synthesis of MoSSe and WSSe via direct ampule method: Exploring structural and electronic properties, liquid exfoliation and electrocatalytic performance for hydrogen production

Since catalytically active materials require special synthesis conditions, which cause difficulty in scaling, it is necessary to develop new lightweight scalable approaches for industrial applications. The most obvious way is to use elementary components to fabricate complex structures. In our work, we used a fundamental ampoule synthesis method to produce MSSe (M = Mo, W) powders with a homogeneous random distribution of chalcogen atoms. The synthesized samples exhibit P6₃/mmc space group indicating the existence of 2 H phase which was proved by comprehensive experimental and theoretical analysis and demonstrates rational characteristics in the hydrogen evolution reaction. The Tafel slopes for synthesized MoSSe and WSSe are 93 and 86 mV/dec, respectively. Moreover, the MSSe samples demonstrate the same catalytic activity in the hydrogen evolution reaction as the samples subjected to ultrasonic treatment in N-Methyl-2-pyrrolidone, with Tafel slopes of 92 and 88 mV/dec for MoSSe and WSSe, respectively.