2D MoTe2 nanomesh with a large surface area and uniform pores for highly active hydrogen evolution catalysis

A kind of MoTe2 nanomesh material via nanocasting stratagem using KIT-6 silica as a hard template was synthesized. The advantage of the MoTe2 nanomesh is the large specific area (75 m2/g), a few-layer structure (3 layers), and uniform pores (5–6 nm), which effectively improves both electrocatalytic and hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) performances. Specifically, the MoTe2 nanomesh provided outstanding electrocatalytic activity with an overpotential of -300 mV for HER at -10 mA/cm2 and a small Tafel slope of 62 mV/dec. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations were investigated to optimize stable configuration and possible reaction pathways. This research provides a new insight for improving the catalytic performance of 2D TMD catalysts in electrochemical reactions.