Chevrel Phase Nanoparticles as Electrocatalysts for Hydrogen Evolution

Chevrel phases (MxMo6S8) are a class of molybdenum chalcogenide materials that are attractive candidates for active non-noble metal catalysts due to the relatively low coordination of their molybdenum moieties. Conventionally, the lengthy and energy-intensive synthesis of Chevrel phases (CPs) produces highly crystalline, low surface area materials. In this work, a synthetic approach leading to a Chevrel phase with an unprecedented nanostructure is presented. The resultant material is fully characterized using a variety of spectroscopic, microscopic, and electrochemical techniques. In electrochemical testing aimed at catalyzing the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER), this nanostructured catalyst shows a substantially lower overpotential than an equivalent MoS2 phase with a similar nanostructure. Furthermore, the nanostructured Chevrel phases prove to be easily modified by electrochemical intercalation, which allows performance fine-tuning, revealing a family of versatile and tuneable catalysts.