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Preparation and Characterization of Liquid Phase Exfoliated MoS2 Nanosheets
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- Author / Creator
- Wei,Yushi
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In this study, natural molybdenite mineral was exfoliated into nanosheets in organic solvents and co-solvent of 2-propanol/water with the ultimate goal to use the nanosheets as catalysts for water splitting. The exfoliated nanosheets were characterized with a variety of techniques such as UV-visible spectroscopy, SEM, EDX, TEM, AFM and XRD. Characterization of the exfoliated nanosheets showed that the nanosheets consisted predominantly of few layers and monolayer. The performance of the exfoliated nanosheets for hydrogen production were investigated through the cathodic reduction reaction in water splitting, otherwise known as hydrogen evolution reaction. A potentiostat was used to control and measure the voltage difference between the working electrode (samples immobilized on glassy carbon) and the reference electrode. Due to the nature of the natural mineral used (97% purity by weight), high concentrations of impurities were observed in the co-solvent exfoliated nanosheets after processing. With that said, there was still noticeable improvement in the electrochemistry performance of the co-solvent exfoliated nanosheets compared to the unexfoliated material. On the contrary, the organic solvent NMP exfoliated nanosheets did not exhibit any noticeable increase in catalyst performance compared to the unexfoliated material. In addition to the noticeable increased performance in the col-solvent exfoliated nanosheets, co-solvent is advantageous to organic solvent due to low boiling point (easily evaporated), high exfoliation yield, and relative environmental friendliness compared to organic solvent. In this study, it is the first time empirical findings were used to assess the performance of co-solvent exfoliated nanosheets.
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- Subjects / Keywords
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- Graduation date
- Spring 2018
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- Type of Item
- Thesis
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- Degree
- Master of Science
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- License
- This thesis is made available by the University of Alberta Libraries with permission of the copyright owner solely for non-commercial purposes. This thesis, or any portion thereof, may not otherwise be copied or reproduced without the written consent of the copyright owner, except to the extent permitted by Canadian copyright law.