Efficient hydrogen evolution by mechanically strained MoS₂ nanosheets

We demonstrated correlations between mechanically bent tensile-strain- induced two-dimensional MoS₂ nanosheets (NSs) and their electrochemical activities toward the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). The tensile-strain-induced MoS₂ NSs showed significantly steeper polarization curves and lower Tafel slopes than the strain-free ones, which is consistent with the simple d-band model. Furthermore, the mechanical strain increased the electrochemical activities of all the NSs toward the HER except those loaded with high MoS₂ mass. Mechanically bending MoS ₂ NSs to induce tensile strain enables the production of powerful, efficient electrocatalysis systems for evolving hydrogen.