Catalytic properties of group 4 transition metal dichalcogenides (MX2; M = Ti, Zr, Hf; X = S, Se, Te)

Rou Jun Toh; Zdeněk Sofer; Martin Pumera

doi:10.1039/c6ta08089h

Catalytic properties of group 4 transition metal dichalcogenides (MX₂; M = Ti, Zr, Hf; X = S, Se, Te)

Rou Jun Toh, Zdeněk Sofer, Martin Pumera

Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

79 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Interest in layered transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) has proliferated due to their properties, making them promising materials for electrochemical applications. Despite this, almost exclusive attention has been placed on group 6 TMDs. Hitherto, there has been a lack of understanding of the electrochemical behaviour of group 4 TMDs, which could serve as promising materials for electrochemical applications with their semiconducting properties. In this work, we provide a first insight into the inherent electrochemistry of group 4 TMDs (i.e., TiS₂, TiSe₂, TiTe₂, ZrS₂, ZrSe₂, ZrTe₂, HfS₂, HfSe₂ and HfTe₂) and their catalytic activities towards the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). In particular, HfS₂ is electrochemically inert within a wide potential range of -1.8 V to +1.8 V vs. Ag/AgCl and displays superior HER activity compared to the other group 4 TMDs, making it a promising candidate for electrochemical sensing applications. Towards the aim of tuning their HER catalytic properties, the materials are subjected to electrochemical treatment. Electrochemical activation towards the HER is displayed for ZrSe₂ and HfSe₂via both electrochemical oxidation and reduction, and TiTe₂via electrochemical reduction. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) analysis points towards the importance of material purity in tuning the catalytic performances of group 4 TMDs. Such findings provide a foundational understanding of the electrochemistry of group 4 TMDs, which when applied appropriately can springboard this field of research towards achieving aims in electrochemical applications.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	18322-18334
Number of pages	13
Journal	Journal of Materials Chemistry A
Volume	4
Issue number	47
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1039/c6ta08089h
Publication status	Published - 2016

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
M. P. acknowledges a Tier 2 grant (MOE2013-T2-1-056; ARC 35/13) from the Ministry of Education, Singapore. R. J. T. acknowledges financial support from the National Research Foundation (NRF), Prime Minister's Office, Singapore, under the CREATE programme, Singapore-MIT Alliance for Research and Technology (SMART) BioSystems and Micromechanics (BioSyM) IRG. Z. S. was supported by the Czech Science Foundation (GACR No. 16-05167S). The Acknowledgement of this manuscript was edited on 18.09.2016.

Publisher Copyright:
© The Royal Society of Chemistry

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

Chemistry(all)
Renewable Energy, Sustainability and the Environment
Materials Science(all)

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

Access to Document

10.1039/c6ta08089h

Cite this

@article{8fe7d4c7ff4f447aacc593cd0d4ec099,

title = "Catalytic properties of group 4 transition metal dichalcogenides (MX2; M = Ti, Zr, Hf; X = S, Se, Te)",

abstract = "Interest in layered transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) has proliferated due to their properties, making them promising materials for electrochemical applications. Despite this, almost exclusive attention has been placed on group 6 TMDs. Hitherto, there has been a lack of understanding of the electrochemical behaviour of group 4 TMDs, which could serve as promising materials for electrochemical applications with their semiconducting properties. In this work, we provide a first insight into the inherent electrochemistry of group 4 TMDs (i.e., TiS2, TiSe2, TiTe2, ZrS2, ZrSe2, ZrTe2, HfS2, HfSe2 and HfTe2) and their catalytic activities towards the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). In particular, HfS2 is electrochemically inert within a wide potential range of -1.8 V to +1.8 V vs. Ag/AgCl and displays superior HER activity compared to the other group 4 TMDs, making it a promising candidate for electrochemical sensing applications. Towards the aim of tuning their HER catalytic properties, the materials are subjected to electrochemical treatment. Electrochemical activation towards the HER is displayed for ZrSe2 and HfSe2via both electrochemical oxidation and reduction, and TiTe2via electrochemical reduction. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) analysis points towards the importance of material purity in tuning the catalytic performances of group 4 TMDs. Such findings provide a foundational understanding of the electrochemistry of group 4 TMDs, which when applied appropriately can springboard this field of research towards achieving aims in electrochemical applications.",

author = "Toh, {Rou Jun} and Zden{\v e}k Sofer and Martin Pumera",

note = "Funding Information: M. P. acknowledges a Tier 2 grant (MOE2013-T2-1-056; ARC 35/13) from the Ministry of Education, Singapore. R. J. T. acknowledges financial support from the National Research Foundation (NRF), Prime Minister's Office, Singapore, under the CREATE programme, Singapore-MIT Alliance for Research and Technology (SMART) BioSystems and Micromechanics (BioSyM) IRG. Z. S. was supported by the Czech Science Foundation (GACR No. 16-05167S). The Acknowledgement of this manuscript was edited on 18.09.2016. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} The Royal Society of Chemistry",

year = "2016",

doi = "10.1039/c6ta08089h",

language = "English",

volume = "4",

pages = "18322--18334",

journal = "Journal of Materials Chemistry A",

issn = "2050-7488",

publisher = "Royal Society of Chemistry",

number = "47",

}

TY - JOUR

T1 - Catalytic properties of group 4 transition metal dichalcogenides (MX2; M = Ti, Zr, Hf; X = S, Se, Te)

AU - Toh, Rou Jun

AU - Sofer, Zdeněk

AU - Pumera, Martin

N1 - Funding Information: M. P. acknowledges a Tier 2 grant (MOE2013-T2-1-056; ARC 35/13) from the Ministry of Education, Singapore. R. J. T. acknowledges financial support from the National Research Foundation (NRF), Prime Minister's Office, Singapore, under the CREATE programme, Singapore-MIT Alliance for Research and Technology (SMART) BioSystems and Micromechanics (BioSyM) IRG. Z. S. was supported by the Czech Science Foundation (GACR No. 16-05167S). The Acknowledgement of this manuscript was edited on 18.09.2016. Publisher Copyright: © The Royal Society of Chemistry

PY - 2016

Y1 - 2016

N2 - Interest in layered transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) has proliferated due to their properties, making them promising materials for electrochemical applications. Despite this, almost exclusive attention has been placed on group 6 TMDs. Hitherto, there has been a lack of understanding of the electrochemical behaviour of group 4 TMDs, which could serve as promising materials for electrochemical applications with their semiconducting properties. In this work, we provide a first insight into the inherent electrochemistry of group 4 TMDs (i.e., TiS2, TiSe2, TiTe2, ZrS2, ZrSe2, ZrTe2, HfS2, HfSe2 and HfTe2) and their catalytic activities towards the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). In particular, HfS2 is electrochemically inert within a wide potential range of -1.8 V to +1.8 V vs. Ag/AgCl and displays superior HER activity compared to the other group 4 TMDs, making it a promising candidate for electrochemical sensing applications. Towards the aim of tuning their HER catalytic properties, the materials are subjected to electrochemical treatment. Electrochemical activation towards the HER is displayed for ZrSe2 and HfSe2via both electrochemical oxidation and reduction, and TiTe2via electrochemical reduction. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) analysis points towards the importance of material purity in tuning the catalytic performances of group 4 TMDs. Such findings provide a foundational understanding of the electrochemistry of group 4 TMDs, which when applied appropriately can springboard this field of research towards achieving aims in electrochemical applications.

AB - Interest in layered transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) has proliferated due to their properties, making them promising materials for electrochemical applications. Despite this, almost exclusive attention has been placed on group 6 TMDs. Hitherto, there has been a lack of understanding of the electrochemical behaviour of group 4 TMDs, which could serve as promising materials for electrochemical applications with their semiconducting properties. In this work, we provide a first insight into the inherent electrochemistry of group 4 TMDs (i.e., TiS2, TiSe2, TiTe2, ZrS2, ZrSe2, ZrTe2, HfS2, HfSe2 and HfTe2) and their catalytic activities towards the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). In particular, HfS2 is electrochemically inert within a wide potential range of -1.8 V to +1.8 V vs. Ag/AgCl and displays superior HER activity compared to the other group 4 TMDs, making it a promising candidate for electrochemical sensing applications. Towards the aim of tuning their HER catalytic properties, the materials are subjected to electrochemical treatment. Electrochemical activation towards the HER is displayed for ZrSe2 and HfSe2via both electrochemical oxidation and reduction, and TiTe2via electrochemical reduction. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) analysis points towards the importance of material purity in tuning the catalytic performances of group 4 TMDs. Such findings provide a foundational understanding of the electrochemistry of group 4 TMDs, which when applied appropriately can springboard this field of research towards achieving aims in electrochemical applications.

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85000716955&partnerID=8YFLogxK

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85000716955&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1039/c6ta08089h

DO - 10.1039/c6ta08089h

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:85000716955

SN - 2050-7488

VL - 4

SP - 18322

EP - 18334

JO - Journal of Materials Chemistry A

JF - Journal of Materials Chemistry A

IS - 47

ER -