RuII Photosensitizer-Functionalized Two-Dimensional MoS2 for Light-Driven Hydrogen Evolution.

Metallic-phase molybdenum disulfide (1T-MoS2 ) nanosheets have proven to be highly active in the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). We describe construction of photosensitizer functionalized 1T-MoS2 by covalently tethering the molecular photosensitizer [RuII (bpy)3 ]2+ (bpy=2,2'-bipyridine) on 1T-MoS2 nanosheets. This was achieved by covalently tethering the bpy ligand to 1T-MoS2 nanosheets, and subsequent complexation with [RuII (bpy)2 Cl2 ] to yield [RuII (bpy)3 ]-MoS2 . The obtained [RuII (bpy)3 ]-MoS2 nanosheets were characterized using infra-red, electronic absorption, X-ray photoelectron, and Raman spectroscopies, X-ray powder diffraction and electron microscopy. The fabricated material exhibited a significant improvement of photocurrent and HER performance, demonstrating the potential of such two-dimensional [RuII (bpy)3 ]-MoS2 constructs in photosensitized HER.