Ultra low Density, Monolithic WS2, MoS2, and MoS2/Graphene Aerogels

We describe the synthesis and characterization of monolithic, ultra low density WS2 and MoS2 aerogels, as well as a high surface area MoS2/graphene hybrid aerogel. The monolithic WS2 and MoS2 aerogels are prepared via thermal decomposition of freeze-dried ammonium thio-molybdate (ATM) and ammonium thio-tungstate (ATT) solutions, respectively. The densities of the pure dichalcogenide aerogels represent 0.4% and 0.5% of full density MoS2 and WS2, respectively, and can be tailored by simply changing the initial ATM or ATT concentrations. Similar processing in the presence of the graphene aerogel results in a hybrid structure with MoS2 sheets conformally coating the graphene scaffold. This layered motif produces a similar to 50 wt % MoS2 aerogel with BET surface area of similar to 700 m(2)/g and an electrical conductivity of 112 S/m. The MoS2/graphene aerogel shows promising results as a hydrogen evolution reaction catalyst with low onset potential (similar to 100 mV) and high current density (100 mA/cm(2) at 260 mV).