Modulated Photoluminescence of Single-Layer MoS2 on Various Rutile TiO2 Surfaces: Implications for Photocatalytic Applications

Hybridization with oxide semiconductors provides a versatile strategy for tailoring physicochemical properties of two-dimensional materials (2DMs). However, the direct impacts of specific interface interactions have not yet been very well categorized, in particular at an atomic level. In the present work, through a chemical vapor deposition (CVD) method, we successfully grew monolayer MoS2 flakes on an atomically smooth rutile TiO2 single crystal with (100), (110), and (001) terminations. We found that the fabrication of comparable high-quality MoS2 on all of the TiO2 substrates can only be achieved via finely varying the growth parameters. Moreover, the photoluminescence of MoS2 also changes against the substrate terminations, showing a gradually reduced A 0/A – exciton ratio following the sequence of (100) > (110) > (001). Detailed X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy measurements showed the same tendency for the binding energy shifts of both Ti and O in the MoS2/TiO2 samples, which were attributed to the varied dipole fields established at the MoS2/TiO2 interfaces. Our work not only reinforces the important role of interface charge redistribution in tailoring the properties of hybridized systems but also emphasizes that the facet effect may be applied as an efficient strategy for optimizing the photocatalytic activities of compositional systems.