Hybrid Phase MoS<sub>2</sub> as a Noble Metal-Free Photocatalyst for Conversion of Nitroaromatics to Aminoaromatics
Yuxiao Zhang, Yasutaka Kuwahara, Kohsuke Mori, Xufang Qian, Yixin Zhao, Hiromi Yamashita
Abstract
Molybdenum sulfide has attracted intense attention owing to unique heteromorphism. A natural molybdenum sulfide shows a semiconductive 2H crystal structure, while another metallic 1T-MoS2 exhibits a higher catalytic activity. However, the strict synthetic condition and the metastable property of 1T-MoS2 have limited its application. Hybrid-phase 1T/2H-MoS2 possesses both higher catalytic activity than 2H-MoS2 and better thermal/chemical stability than 1T-MoS2, which is a more promising candidate in the catalytic field. As for photocatalytic field, 2H-MoS2 has been only used as a cocatalyst but not as an individual photocatalyst due to its fast electron–hole recombination level and nonideal surface active site nature. Hybrid-phase MoS2 would provide a proper solution for individual MoS2 as a photocatalyst because 1T sites can collect photoelectrons and provide active sites for various reactions. In this work, we report a hybrid-phase MoS2 synthesized by a simple hydrothermal method, which is applied to the photocatalytic conversion of a series of nitroaromatics to aminoaromatics. The reactions are not favorable with natural 2H-MoS2, which reveals new potential of MoS2 as a noble metal-free photocatalyst.