Decoration of single atom catalyst on novel three dimensional MoS2 aerogel for electrocatalytic overall water splitting

The materials with superior electrocatalytic activity and high stability are crucial in commercial applications especially in water splitting reactions such as hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and the oxygen evolution reaction (OER). Other than noble metal catalysts (Pt for HER and Ir for OER), nanostructured MoS₂ edge sites are highly active for electrocatalytic HER but basal planes are inactive and its shows poor response for OER. Hence, the electrocatalytic activity is inefficient compared with the Pt and Ir based electrocatalysts for water splitting and also limited 1T MoS₂ phase stability, which is a highly active phase for electrocatalytic HER. The recent studies on theoretical calculations by DFT and experiments suggested that decoration of single atom catalyst on MoS₂ nanosheets can acts as a bifunctional catalyst for the electrocatalytic HER and OER. On the other hand, three dimensional (3D) MoS₂ based catalysts are gained more interest in electrocatalytic reactions compared to 2D MoS₂ due to its, better catalytic activity, high structural and catalytic stability and good antifouling properties. In this project, we will synthesize a novel 3D MoS₂ aerogels by solvethermal method followed by decoration of single atom catalyst (Ni, Co, Fe, Mn, Nb, Ce, Rh, Ru, Ir and Pt) for electrocatalytic HER and OER. The synthesized materials will be characterized using various spectroscopic techniques such as XRD, XPS, FT-IR and Raman spectroscopy and microscopic techniques such as SEM and TEM for surface morphology of the single atom decorated MoS₂ aerogel composites. The electrocatalytic activity will performed by modifying these catalysts on electrode surface for overall water splitting reaction (HER and OER). We will identify the onset and overpotential required for the electrocatalytic HER and OER and also the reaction pathway based on the Tafel plots. We will evaluate the structural stability and long term catalytic stability for both HER and OER. The final output of the proposed project is identification of best single atom catalyst-MoS₂ aerogel composite for the overall water splitting reaction (HER and OER) and results will be published in high impact international journals and project report will be submitted to funding agency.