Plasma‐Assisted Engineering of Transition Metal Dichalcogenides for Hydrogen Evolution and Energy Storage Applications

ABSTRACT Transition‐metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) are promising materials for electrocatalysis and energy storage due to their tunable structures and rich active sites, yet their practical applications remain limited by poor conductivity, sluggish charge transport, and structural instability. Conventional synthesis methods often fail to achieve precise control over these intrinsic properties. Plasma‐assisted engineering offers a powerful alternative, enabling simultaneous control of composition, phase, and defect states under mild, rapid, and scalable conditions. This review summarizes recent advances in plasma‐enabled synthesis and modification of TMDs, emphasizing their applications in hydrogen‐evolution reaction (HER) and rechargeable energy‐storage systems. Key plasma strategies—such as direct film growth, doping, defect generation, and phase modulation—are discussed in relation to their effects on electronic structure, conductivity, and interfacial charge transport. Mechanistic insights into plasma–matter interactions, including impurity incorporation and stabilization of metastable 1T phases, are also highlighted. Finally, future opportunities are discussed, including the shift toward predictive and mechanism‐guided plasma design, the integration of plasma with advanced synthesis methods, and the use of operando characterization and multiscale simulations. This review aims to provide both a timely summary and a forward‐looking perspective, offering guidance for the rational development of plasma‐engineered TMDs for sustainable hydrogen production and next‐generation energy storage.