1T’ RexMo1−xS2–2H MoS2 Lateral Heterojunction for Enhanced Hydrogen Evolution Reaction Performance

The imperfect interfaces between 2D transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) are suitable for boosting the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) during water electrolysis. Here, the improved catalytic activity at the spatial heterojunction between 1T’ Re_xMo_1−xS₂ and 2H MoS₂ is reported. Atomic-scale electron microscopy confirms that the heterojunction is constructed by an in-situ two-step growth process through chemical vapor deposition. Electrochemical microcell measurements demonstrate that the 1T’ Re_xMo_1−xS₂–2H MoS₂ lateral heterojunction exhibits the best HER catalytic performance among all TMD catalysts with an overpotential of ≈84 mV at 10 mA cm⁻² current density and 58 mV dec⁻¹ Tafel slope. Kelvin probe force microscopy shows ≈40 meV as the work function difference between 2H MoS₂ and 1T’ Re_xMo_1−xS₂, facilitating the electron transfer from 2H MoS₂ to 1T’ Re_xMo_1−xS₂ at the heterojunction. First-principles calculations reveal that Mo-rich heterojunctions with high structural stability are formed, and the HER performance is improved with the combination of increased density of states near the Fermi level and optimal ΔG_H* as low as 0.07 eV. Those synergetic effects with many electrons and active sites with optimal ΔG_H* improve HER performance at the heterojunction. These results provide new insights into understanding the role of the heterojunction for HER.     

Simple two-step fabrication method of Bi2Te3 nanowires

Bismuth telluride (Bi2Te3) is an attractive material for both thermoelectric and topological insulator applications. Its performance is expected to be greatly improved when the material takes nanowire structures. However, it is very difficult to grow high-quality Bi2Te3 nanowires. In this study, a simple and reliable method for the growth of Bi2Te3 nanowires is reported, which uses post-sputtering and annealing in combination with the conventional method involving on-film formation of nanowires. Transmission electron microscopy study shows that Bi2Te3 nanowires grown by our technique are highly single-crystalline and oriented along [110] direction.     

Replication of DNA microarrays prepared by in situ oligonucleotide polymerization and mechanical transfer

In this paper, we describe a method for replication of DNA microarrays. The approach involves in situ, enzymatic synthesis of a DNA complement array using a prefabricated master array, followed by mechanical transfer of the complement array to a second substrate. The new findings reported here include the following. DNA spots as small as approximately 100 microm can be faithfully replicated, replica arrays consisting of several different oligonucleotide sequences can be prepared, and such arrays are active toward hybridization of their complements. Up to 10 replicas can be prepared from a single master with no detectable progressive degradation of their activity. DNA master arrays consisting of long DNA templates (80-mer) can be replicated, as can large-scale master arrays consisting of approximately 2300 spots.