Edge-terminated few-layer MoS₂ nanoflakes supported on TNAs@C with enhanced electrocatalysis activity for iodine reduction reaction

Construction of hierarchical structures composed of edge-terminated MoS₂ with abundant active sites is challenging but yet desirable for many practical applications. Herein, the edge-terminated few-layer MoS₂ nanoflakes are synthesized on carbon nanofilm–coated TiO₂ nanorod arrays (TNAs@C) to form vertically aligned TNAs@C-MoS₂ core-shell nanostructure. This TNAs@C-MoS₂ nanomaterial exhibits a large number of MoS₂ active sites and possesses fast electron transport ability. When evaluated as an electrocatalyst for the triiodide reduction in a dye-sensitized solar cell, the TNAs@C-MoS₂ shows higher power conversion efficiency (7.98%) than that (7.16%) of Pt. This structure engineering synthesis offers a facile and general way of manipulating the relevant device structures and provides a promising approach for producing other transition-metal dichalcogenides materials with unique properties.