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Facile one-pot liquid exfoliation preparation of molybdenum sulfide and graphene heterojunction for photoelectrochemical performance

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Abstract

A MoS2/graphene heterojunction has been prepared via a facile one-pot liquid exfoliation method and proved to have improved photoelectrochemical properties. With a suitable ultrasonic power, small MoS2 nanosheets with dozens of nanometer diameter can be obtained to adhere to graphene layers with tens of micrometer-scale diameter. Atomic force microscopy, transmission electron microscope, Raman spectra and adsorption spectra are used to characterize the structure of these MoS2/graphene heterojunction samples after exfoliation. The characterizations indicate that MoS2/graphene heterojunction in solution is stable and has good crystallinity. Moreover, photoelectrochemical measurements further prove that the obtained MoS2/graphene heterojunction exhibits improved photoresponse activity under the illumination of simulated sunlight compared to MoS2 and graphene. Combined with the first-principle calculation analysis, the improvement can be attributed to the extremely efficient charge separation of the heterojunction. The dynamic mechanism has been revealed through a MoS2/graphene band model, where graphene can serve as a collector for storing and transferring electrons, to promote the separation of photogenerated electron–hole pairs and suppress their recombination. This work verifies the superiority of MoS2/graphene heterojunction through its photoelectrochemical performance, which have referential significance for future MoS2/graphene optoelectronic devices.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by International Cooperative Program (2014DFR10780), National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 61605160, 11374240, 11774288), Key Science and Technology Innovation Team Project of Natural Science Foundation of Shaanxi Province (2017KCT-01), Natural Science Foundation of Shaanxi Province (2016JQ1010), Scientific Research Program Funded by Shaanxi Provincial Education Department (16JK1781), Young Talent Plan from Institute of Science and Technology of University in Shaanxi Province (20160114) and the Natural Science Foundation of Northwest University (14NW22).

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  1. State Key Lab Incubation Base of Photoelectric Technology and Functional Materials, International Collaborative Center on Photoelectric Technology and Nano Functional Materials, Institute of Photonics and Photon-Technology, School of Physics, Northwest University, Xi’an, 710069, China

    Mengjiao Huang, Yixuan Zhou, Yaohui Guo, Huan Wang, Xuerong Hu, Xinlong Xu & Zhaoyu Ren

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  1. Mengjiao Huang
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  2. Yixuan Zhou
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  3. Yaohui Guo
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  4. Huan Wang
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  5. Xuerong Hu
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  6. Xinlong Xu
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  7. Zhaoyu Ren
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Correspondence to Yixuan Zhou or Zhaoyu Ren.

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Huang, M., Zhou, Y., Guo, Y. et al. Facile one-pot liquid exfoliation preparation of molybdenum sulfide and graphene heterojunction for photoelectrochemical performance. J Mater Sci 53, 7744–7754 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10853-018-2108-8

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