New Class of Electrocatalysts Based on 2D Transition Metal Dichalcogenides in Ionic Liquid

Abstract

electrochemical reactions. [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11] In particular, molybdenum disulfide (MoS 2 ) and a few members of transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDCs) in contact with ionic-liquid (IL) electrolyte have recently shown a great promise to overcome fundamental electronic and thermokinetic limitations for CO 2 reduction reaction, as well as the oxygen reduction and evolution reactions (ORR/OER). [7][8][9][10] These studies have been conducted on a limited number of TMDCs, and the majority of other TMDCs with a wide range of electronic and potentially catalytic properties have not been investigated. In this study, we report synthesis and characterization of a wide range of TMDCs including sulfides, selenides, and tellurides of group V and VI transition metals and study their electrochemical performance in aprotic medium with Li salts. We employ a wide suite of characterization techniques, such as scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM), energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), Raman spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), ultraviolet photoelectron spectroscopy (UPS), dynamic light scattering (DLS), and atomic forceThe optimization of traditional electrocatalysts has reached a point where progress is impeded by fundamental physical factors including inherent scaling relations among thermokinetic characteristics of different elementary reaction steps, non-Nernstian behavior, and electronic structure of the catalyst. This indicates that the currently utilized classes of electrocatalysts may not be adequate for future needs. This study reports on synthesis and characterization of a new class of materials based on 2D transition metal dichalcogenides including sulfides, selenides, and tellurides of group V and VI transition metals that exhibit excellent catalytic performance for both oxygen reduction and evolution reactions in an aprotic medium with Li salts. The reaction rates are much higher for these materials than previously reported catalysts for these reactions. The reasons for the high activity are found to be the metal edges with adiabatic electron transfer capability and a cocatalyst effect involving an ionic-liquid electrolyte. These new materials are expected to have high activity for other core electrocatalytic reactions and open the way for advances in energy storage and catalysis. ElectrocatalystsThe ORCID identification number(s) for the author(s) of this article can be found under https://doi.

Highly Efficient Solar‐Driven Carbon Dioxide Reduction on Molybdenum Disulfide Catalyst Using Choline Chloride‐Based Electrolyte

“…[20][21][22] The synthesized MoS 2 nanoflakes coated on gas diffusion layer (GDL) were then characterized using scanning electron micro scopy, Raman spectroscopy, and X-ray photoelectron spectro scopy (Section S1, Supporting Information). [20][21][22] The synthesized MoS 2 nanoflakes coated on gas diffusion layer (GDL) were then characterized using scanning electron micro scopy, Raman spectroscopy, and X-ray photoelectron spectro scopy (Section S1, Supporting Information).…”

Mass Production of High‐Quality Transition Metal Dichalcogenides Nanosheets via a Molten Salt Method

“…As one of the most promising 2D materials, transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) have attracted significant attention due to their exceptional optical, electronic, chemical properties, and gained wide‐ranging applications such as field–effect transistors, energy storage, electrocatalysis, and so on. Current strategies for the synthesis of 2D TMDs primarily include chemical exfoliation, chemical vapor deposition (CVD), and liquid‐phase syntheses .…”

A Long‐Cycle‐Life Lithium–CO2 Battery with Carbon Neutrality

“…Our recent findings on the superior electrocatalytic activity of nanostructured transition metal dichalcogenides for CO 2 reduction [22][23][24][25] and O 2 reduction in a Li-O 2 battery [5,26,27] , have led us to investigate whether this type of catalyst would enable carbon and Li 2 CO 3…”