A WS(2) Case Theoretical Study: Hydrogen Storage Performance Improved by Phase Altering

Hydrogen is a clean energy with high efficiency, while the storage and transport problems still prevent its extensive use. Because of the large specific surface area and unique electronic structure, two-dimensional materials have great potential in hydrogen storage. Particularly, monolayer 2H-WS(2) has been proven to be suitable for hydrogen storage. But there are few studies concerning the other two phases of WS(2) (1T, 1T′) in hydrogen storage. Here, we carried out first-principle calculations to investigate the hydrogen adsorption behaviors of all the three phases of WS(2). Multiple hydrogen adsorption studies also evaluate the hydrogen storage abilities of these materials. Comprehensive analysis results show that the 1T′-WS(2) has better hydrogen storage performance than the 2H-WS(2), which means phase engineering could be an effective way to improve hydrogen storage performance. This paper provides a reference for the further study of hydrogen storage in two-dimensional materials.