Unraveling compensation between electron transfer and strain in Ni-Ag-MoS2 photocatalyst

Journal article, 2022

Despite the boom in catalytic response via constructing interfaces, understanding interfaces’ interaction in heterostructures is still a paradox. In this work, the interaction of Ni with MoS2 in Ni-Ag-MoS2 heterostructure are unveiled through synchrotron X-PEEM and what's more, the missing interaction mechanism at the Ag-MoS2 interface is probed via Raman mapping. The observed competition between the downshift of the E2g1 and A1g modes due to charge carrier injection and the upshift of the E2g1 and A1g modes due to compressive strain during reverse laser power experiment is assigned to the non-uniform growth of Ag nanoparticles, their intimate contact with MoS2, and Ag intercalated layered MoS2. The substantial improvement of the H2 yield of the Ni-Ag-MoS2 (∼55 μmol h−1 g−1) over the pristine MoS2 and the binary Ag-MoS2 evidence successful bonding of Ni, Ag and MoS2. This study highlights the importance of considering both electronic coupling and strain to optically tune electromechanical properties of MoS2.