Direct solvothermal growth of morphology-controlled TaS2 on substrates enables stable self-supported hydrogen evolution electrocatalysts
6 affiliations
- 1University of Hamburg, Institute for Nanostructure and Solid-State Physics, Center for Hybrid Nanostructures Luruper Chaussee 149 22761 Hamburg Germany
- 2The Hamburg Centre for Ultrafast Imaging Hamburg Germany
- 3Institute of Functional Materials for Sustainability, Helmholtz-Zentrum Hereon Kantstrasse 55 14513 Teltow Germany
- 4Centre for X-Ray and Nano Science CXNS, Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron DESY Notkestrasse 85 22607 Hamburg Germany
- 5Faculty of Mechanical and Civil Engineering, Helmut Schmidt University Holstenhofweg 85 22043 Hamburg Germany
- 6Institute for Nanostructure and Solid-State Physics, University of Hamburg Hamburg Germany
Abstract
Layered transition metal dichalcogenides represent a class of materials with promising electronic properties and emerging applications as electrocatalysts for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). However, their preparation relies on vapor-phase and solid-state methods, while solution-phase synthesis remains challenging and underdeveloped. Here, a solvothermal route is demonstrated for the direct growth of TaS2 on different substrates. The reaction between TaCl5 and 1-dodecanethiol in toluene yields highly crystalline TaS2 nanostructures, whose morphology can be tailored from nanodisks (NDs) to nanosheets (NSs) through the addition of octylamine while preserving a single-phase 1T structure. Direct growth on conductive substrates, including Ta plate and carbon cloth, enables the fabrication of self-supported electrodes, which, when tested for HER under acidic conditions, reveal that both catalyst morphology and the underlying substrate influence electrocatalytic performance. Among the electrodes, TaS2 NSs grown on the Ta plate exhibit the highest activity, demonstrating that the developed synthetic approach enables morphological control to tune catalytic activity. Moreover, all self-supported electrodes show excellent long-term stability regardless of morphology or substrate. Overall, this work establishes a versatile solvothermal strategy for growing morphology-controlled TaS2 nanostructures, enabling their integration into self-supported electrodes while providing a pathway for future investigations of TaS2 in energy-related and electronic applications.
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BibTeX
@article{zito2026direct,
title = {{Direct solvothermal growth of morphology-controlled TaS2 on substrates enables stable self-supported hydrogen evolution electrocatalysts}},
author = {Cecilia A. Zito and Francesco Caddeo and Philipp M. Ulmen and Emil Schürmann and Yvonne Pieper and Jagadesh Kopula Kesavan and Heshmat Noei and Francesca M. Toma and Andreas Stierle and Dorota Koziej},
journal = {Journal of materials chemistry. A},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.1039/d6ta07594k},
url = {https://europepmc.org/article/PMC/PMC13728942},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Direct solvothermal growth of morphology-controlled TaS2 on substrates enables stable self-supported hydrogen evolution electrocatalysts
AU - Cecilia A. Zito
AU - Francesco Caddeo
AU - Philipp M. Ulmen
AU - Emil Schürmann
AU - Yvonne Pieper
AU - Jagadesh Kopula Kesavan
AU - Heshmat Noei
AU - Francesca M. Toma
AU - Andreas Stierle
AU - Dorota Koziej
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/26
JO - Journal of materials chemistry. A
DO - 10.1039/d6ta07594k
UR - https://europepmc.org/article/PMC/PMC13728942
AB - Layered transition metal dichalcogenides represent a class of materials with promising electronic properties and emerging applications as electrocatalysts for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). However, their preparation relies on vapor-phase and solid-state methods, while solution-phase synthesis remains challenging and underdeveloped. Here, a solvothermal route is demonstrated for the direct growth of TaS2 on different substrates. The reaction between TaCl5 and 1-dodecanethiol in toluene yields highly crystalline TaS2 nanostructures, whose morphology can be tailored from nanodisks (NDs) to nanosheets (NSs) through the addition of octylamine while preserving a single-phase 1T structure. Direct growth on conductive substrates, including Ta plate and carbon cloth, enables the fabrication of self-supported electrodes, which, when tested for HER under acidic conditions, reveal that both catalyst morphology and the underlying substrate influence electrocatalytic performance. Among the electrodes, TaS2 NSs grown on the Ta plate exhibit the highest activity, demonstrating that the developed synthetic approach enables morphological control to tune catalytic activity. Moreover, all self-supported electrodes show excellent long-term stability regardless of morphology or substrate. Overall, this work establishes a versatile solvothermal strategy for growing morphology-controlled TaS2 nanostructures, enabling their integration into self-supported electrodes while providing a pathway for future investigations of TaS2 in energy-related and electronic applications.
SN - 2050-7488
SN - 2050-7496
ER -