Next-Generation Nanostructured Hybrid MoS2 Trifunctional Catalyst: A Green Technology for Green Hydrogen and Water Purification

The present work describes the simple hydrothermal production of a flower-like hybrid phase MoS2 nanostructure using several analytical methods, including transmission electron microscopy, X-ray, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and Raman analysis. This investigation represents the biphase MoS2 as an efficient multifunctional smart material for application in the piezocatalytic, electrocatalytic, and photoelectrocatalytic fields. This work is primarily focused on the piezocatalytic degradation of methylene blue and rhodamine B under ultrasonic wave in 120 s and 15 min. In addition to piezocatalysis, we report 1T/2H phase MoS2 as a highly efficient electrocatalyst in alkaline (KOH) and acidic media (H2SO4). Herein, we report nickel foam-supported 1T/2H phase MoS2 as an efficient hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) catalyst with an overpotential of -528 mV (H2SO4) and -270 mV (KOH) to achieve 10 mA cm-2 current density. The synthesized catalyst also shows oxygen evolution reaction (OER) activity in KOH media with an overpotential of 100 mV to achieve a current density of 10 mA cm-2. The catalytic HER and OER were enhanced in the presence of UV light, indicating further insights into the photoelectrocatalytic property of 1T/2H-MoS2 phase.