Sulphide induced highly selective electrocatalytic nitrobenzene reduction by Cu-doped 1T-MoS2

An electrocatalysis system with lower overpotential, higher Faradic efficiency and good product selectivity is highly desirable for the electroreduction of nitrobenzene (NB). Here, Metallic Cu-doped 1T-MoS2 with different Cu content were load onto a Ti mesh by using a one-step solvothermal method. The doping of Cu into 1T MoS2 can significantly enlarge the electrochemical surface area and decease the charge transfer resistance. Detailed electrochemical studies indicate the reduction of NB follows first-order kinetics with respect to NB and second-order regarding S2−. Thus, introduction of small amount of sulphide ions can significantly accelerate the reaction and further decrease the charge transfer resistance. As a result, 8 % Cu-MoS2 attains 97 % selectivity towards aniline with 76 % Faradaic efficiency (FE). Besides, 8 % Cu-MoS2 demonstrates good stability and retains its 92 % selectivity of aniline after 5 cycles. This work provides valuable insights into organic transformations using the tuned electronic structure of 1T-MoS2 via doping strategy.