Effect of Oxygen Poisoning on the Bidirectional Hydrogen Electrocatalysis in TaS2 Nanosheets

Sustainable production of hydrogen gas, a green energy carrier of high density, is possible only by electrolysis of water based on the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). Here, we report the effect of oxygen poisoning on the efficiency of hydrogen production and the consumption by the HER and the hydrogen oxidation reaction (HOR), respectively, on the interface of platinum group metal-free electrocatalyst TaS2 in pristine form and intercalated by the organic Lewis base hexylamine. The state of the surface probed by photoelectron spectroscopy was significantly altered by both Lewis base doping and oxygen poisoning. This alteration dramatically affects the hydrogen production efficiency in the HER, while the back process by the HOR was less sensitive to the changes in the surface states of the electrocatalysts. The oxygenated and intercalated electrocatalyst shows more than 2 x 105 times lower exchange current density of the HER compared to pristine oxygenated materials.