Tuning the Electronic and Chemical Properties of Monolayer MoS₂ Adsorbed on Transition Metal Substrates

Using first-principles calculations within density functional theory, we investigate the electronic and chemical properties of a single-layer MoS(2) adsorbed on Ir(111), Pd(111), or Ru(0001), three representative transition metal substrates having varying work functions but each with minimal lattice mismatch with the MoS(2) overlayer. We find that, for each of the metal substrates, the contact nature is of Schottky-barrier type, and the dependence of the barrier height on the work function exhibits a partial Fermi-level pinning picture. Using hydrogen adsorption as a testing example, we further demonstrate that the introduction of a metal substrate can substantially alter the chemical reactivity of the adsorbed MoS(2) layer. The enhanced binding of hydrogen, by as much as ~0.4 eV, is attributed in part to a stronger H-S coupling enabled by the transferred charge from the substrate to the MoS(2) overlayer, and in part to a stronger MoS(2)-metal interface by the hydrogen adsorption. These findings may prove to be instrumental in future design of MoS(2)-based electronics, as well as in exploring novel catalysts for hydrogen production and related chemical processes.