Abstract

Here, we report that transition-metal dichalcogenides such as MoS2 and WS2 can be decorated with gold nanoparticles by a spontaneous redox reaction with hexachloroauric acid in water. The resulting gold nanoparticles tend to grow at defective sites, and therefore, selective decorations at the edges and the line defects in the basal planes of bulk single crystals were observed. The lithium intercalation-exfoliation process makes the basal planes of chemically exfoliated MoS2 and WS2 sheets much more defective than their single-crystalline counterparts, leading to a more uniform and higher-density deposition of gold nanoparticles. Due to the greatly improved charge transport between adjacent sheets, the resulting MoS2/Au and WS2/Au hybrids show significantly enhanced electrocatalytic performance toward hydrogen evolution reactions.