Doping-induced structural phase transition in cobalt diselenide enables enhanced hydrogen evolution catalysis

Abstract

Transition metal dichalcogenide materials have been explored extensively as catalysts to negotiate the hydrogen evolution reaction, but they often run at a large excess thermodynamic cost. Although activating strategies, such as defects and composition engineering, have led to remarkable activity gains, there remains the requirement for better performance that aims for real device applications. We report here a phosphorus-doping-induced phase transition from cubic to orthorhombic phases in CoSe2. It has been found that the achieved orthorhombic CoSe2 with appropriate phosphorus dopant (8 wt%) needs the lowest overpotential of 104 mV at 10 mA cm−2 in 1 M KOH, with onset potential as small as −31 mV. This catalyst demonstrates negligible activity decay after 20 h of operation. The striking catalysis performance can be attributed to the favorable electronic structure and local coordination environment created by this doping-induced structural phase transition strategy.

Predicting two-dimensional topological phases in Janus materials by substitutional doping in transition metal dichalcogenide monolayers

“…Moreover, numerous studies have shown that the structural phase transition may occur after doping. 25,28,32,33 Our findings for group VB indeed indicate a structural phase transition from 2H to 1T for all the MXY pnic films, whereas the structures after halogen substitution or hydrogen adsorption are found to stay 2H. On the other hand, our findings for group VIIB indicate a structural phase transition from 2H to 1T for all the MXY hal or MX 2 H films, while for pnictogen substitution, the structures stay 2H.…”

“…Despite graphene's popularity, the lack of an electronic bandgap in graphene has driven the interest in 2D TMD films as a promising alternative. 22,23 Recent theoretical [24][25][26][27][28] and experimental [29][30][31][32][33][34][35] studies show that doping is a viable method for enhancing and tuning electronic and optical properties of TMDs for potential applications. One specific type of doping is substitutional doping, and there have been reports of successful experimental substitution of transition metal 29 or chalcogen atoms.…”

“…35 Most experimental research has focused on doping MoS 2 . For example, covalent nitrogen doping of MoS 2 was obtained by remote N 2 plasma exposure and it reportedly can induce compressive strain on TMDs 31 (as can other experimental procedures 32,33 ), and computational results show that structural phase transitions can occur by alloying. 28 Very recently, ultrathin 2D Janus materials have started to attract attention.…”

Hierarchical MoP Hollow Nanospheres Anchored on a N,P,S‐Doped Porous Carbon Matrix as Efficient Electrocatalysts for the Hydrogen Evolution Reaction

“…Hydrogen, with high gravimetric energy density and zero carbon footprint, has been deemed to be an ideal energy carrier . Among the various hydrogen production methods, electrochemical water splitting is considered as an ecofriendly and efficient pathway for pollution‐free hydrogen production . To realize this technology, it requires cost‐effective and durable electrocatalysts to promote the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER).…”

Ball Milling-Assisted Synthesis of Ultrasmall Ruthenium Phosphide for Efficient Hydrogen Evolution Reaction

“…Therefore, the development of scalable hydrogen production technology to produce hydrogen economically and in environmentally friendly ways is particularly important. Among them, electrochemical water splitting is a new method for hydrogen production, which presents a clean, renewable, and potentially cost-effective pathway to produce hydrogen [3][4][5]. As a vital step of electrochemical water splitting on the cathode, the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) always demands the use of a favorable electrocatalyst which can generate hydrogen with minimal overpotential for practical applications [6][7][8].…”