Room Temperature Electrodeposition of Molybdenum Sulfide for Catalytic and Photoluminescence Applications

An elegant method for the electrodeposition of MoS₂ thin films using room temperature ionic liquids (RTIL) as an electrolyte was developed. Simple molecular precursors of Mo and S were added in different concentrations to tune the composition and deposition process. The electrodeposition of MoS₂ was confirmed with both Raman spectroscopy and XPS. Analysis showed that the electrodeposited MoS₂ films form a flower shape morphology with edge active sites that promote the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). Furthermore, this technique enables selective tuning of the film thickness and demonstrates high photoluminescence activity with a decrease in the number of layers.