Molybdenum diselenide introduction

Molybdenum diselenide (MoSe2) is an inorganic compound of molybdenum and selenium. Its structure is similar to that of MoS2. Compounds of this category are known as transition metal dichalcogenides, abbreviated TMDCs. These compounds, as the name suggests, are made up of a transition metals and elements of group 16 on the periodic table of the elements. Compared to MoS2, MoSe2 exhibits higher electrical conductivity.

Molybdenum diselenide structure

The layered structure of MoSe2 plus the size and electrical conductivity of Se provide a good opportunity for hosting counterions in electrochemical energy storage systems such as lithium-ion and sodium-ion batteries. The unsaturated Se atoms at the edge and those at defective points or altered basal plane have superior electrocatalytic activity toward hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and similar electrocatalytic reactions (e.g., in lithium–oxygen batteries). Furthermore, the tunable band gap of MoSe2 has made it a promising candidate for photocatalysis and photoelectrochemical solar cells.

Molybdenum diselenide application

Molybdenum chalcogenide thin film transitors for solar cells are a rapidly expanding area of research and molybdenum selenide compounds play an important role in this research. The layered nature of MoSe2 gives rise to several interesting applications such as field effect transistors ; piezoelectrics and substrates for self assembly.