Water-exfoliated MoS2 catalyst with enhanced photoelectrochemical activities

• An organic-free approach was developed to exfoliate bulk MoS2 using deionized water.
• The obtained 2D MoS2 exhibited excellent electrocatalytic activity as well as photoresponse.
• The decoration of Au nanoparticles enhanced the electron mobility and photoabsorption.

Design and engineering of two dimensional (2D) nanosheets have attracted increasing interest. However, facile and environment friendly approaches for high-quality 2D materials still remain challenging. A facile water-exfoliation method was developed to obtain a few layers of MoS2 nanosheets without impurities for the first time. As prepared MoS2 nanosheets were stable in distilled water as colloidal suspension and exhibited rich planar defects. The fabricated 2D nanosheets possessed excellent electrocatalytic activity as well as photoresponse. The decoration of gold nanoparticles enhanced these activities. This organic-free method is believed to be a promising strategy toward producing functionally uniform and stable 2D catalysts.

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