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Item Sulfur/nitrogen-codoped carbon-dot-modified wo3 nanosheets toward enhanced charge-carrier separation in a saline water-splitting reaction(ACS, 2023-11) Basu, MrinmoyeeHydrogen (H2) is considered to be a future fuel because of its high energy density and could replace fossil fuels. It can be produced in a greener way by using abundant solar light and saline water and applying a photoelectrochemical (PEC) pathway. To produce green H2, WO3 2D nanosheets are developed, and their performance in saline water splitting is studied under PEC conditions. WO3 is very efficient in absorbing visible light from solar irradiation; however, it suffers from low charge-transfer rates, which inhibits its PEC performance. To increase the charge transportation ability, WO3 is sensitized with sulfur/nitrogen-codoped carbon dots (SNCDs). Impedance analysis indicates an enhanced charge transportation ability of the formed heterostructure. The best-obtained heterostructure of WO3 and SNCDs exhibits nearly 1.62 times more photocurrent density than bare WO3. Bare WO3 nanosheets can produce a photocurrent density of 1.59 mA/cm2 at 1.39 V vs Ag/AgCl. The best-obtained heterostructure of WO3 and SNCDs can produce photocurrent density of 2.57 mA/cm2 at 1.39 V vs Ag/AgCl. A type II staggered heterostructure of WO3/SNCDs leads to improved PEC activity. Enhanced carrier density and lowered charge-transfer resistances are observed from Mott–Schottky and PEC impedance analyses, respectively. The carrier density increases nearly 84 times in the heterostructure. The heterostructure exhibits effective photostability under uninterrupted illumination for 2 h.Item Doping of MoS2 by “Cu” and “V”: An Efficient Strategy for the Enhancement of Hydrogen Evolution Activity(ACS, 2021-04) Basu, Mrinmoyee; Pande, SurojitTo replace Pt-based compounds in the electrocatalytic hydrogen evolution reaction (HER), MoS2 has already been established as an efficient catalyst. The electrocatalytic activity of MoS2 is further improved by tuning the morphology and the electronic structure through doping, which helps the band energy position to be modified. Presently, thin sheets of MoS2 (MoS2-TSs) are synthesized via a microwave technique. Thin sheets of MoS2 can outperform nanosheets of MoS2 in the HER. Further, the efficiency of the thin sheets is improved by doping with different metals like Cu, V, Zn, Mn, Fe, Sn, etc. “Cu”- and “V”-doped MoS2-TSs are highly efficient for the HER. At a fixed potential of −0.588 V vs RHE, Cu-doped MoS2 (Cu-MoS2-TS), V-doped MoS2 (V-MoS2-TS), and MoS2-TS can generate current densities of 327.46, 308.45, and 127.82 mA/cm2, respectively. The electrochemically active surface area increases nearly 7.7-fold and 2.5-fold for Cu-MoS2-TS and V-MoS2-TS than for MoS2-TS, respectively. Cu-MoS2-TS shows exceptionally high electrocatalytic stability up to 140 h in an acidic medium (0.5 M H2SO4). First-principles calculations using density functional theory (DFT) are performed, which are well matched with the experimental observations. DFT calculations dictate that after doping with “V” and “Cu” both valance band maxima and conduction band minima are uplifted, which indicates the higher hydrogen-ion-reducing ability of M-MoS2-TS (M = Cu, V) compared to bare MoS2-TS.