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In Situ Growth of Interfacially Nanoengineered 2D-2D WS 2 /Ti 3 C 2 T x MXene for the Enhanced Performance of Hydrogen Evolution Reactions.
- Source :
-
ACS applied materials & interfaces [ACS Appl Mater Interfaces] 2024 Mar 20; Vol. 16 (11), pp. 14229-14242. Date of Electronic Publication: 2024 Mar 11. - Publication Year :
- 2024
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Abstract
- In line with current research goals involving water splitting for hydrogen production, this work aims to develop a noble-metal-free electrocatalyst for a superior hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). A single-step interfacial activation of Ti <subscript>3</subscript> C <subscript>2</subscript> T <subscript> x </subscript> MXene layers was employed by uniformly growing embedded WS <subscript>2</subscript> two-dimensional (2D) nanopetal-like sheets through a facile solvothermal method. We exploited the interactions between WS <subscript>2</subscript> nanopetals and Ti <subscript>3</subscript> C <subscript>2</subscript> T <subscript> x </subscript> nanolayers to enhance HER performance. A much safer method was adopted to synthesize the base material, Ti <subscript>3</subscript> C <subscript>2</subscript> T <subscript> x </subscript> MXene, by etching its MAX phase through mild in situ HF formation. Consequently, WS <subscript>2</subscript> nanopetals were grown between the MXene layers and on edges in a one-step solvothermal method, resulting in a 2D-2D nanocomposite with enhanced interactions between WS <subscript>2</subscript> and Ti <subscript>3</subscript> C <subscript>2</subscript> T <subscript> x </subscript> MXene. The resulting 2D-2D nanocomposite was thoroughly characterized using X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), Raman, Fourier transform infrared (FTIR), and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) analyses before being utilized as working electrodes for HER application. Among various loadings of WS <subscript>2</subscript> into MXene, the 5% WS <subscript>2</subscript> -Ti <subscript>3</subscript> C <subscript>2</subscript> T <subscript> x </subscript> MXene sample exhibited the best activity toward HER, with a low overpotential value of 66.0 mV at a current density of -10 mA cm <superscript>-2</superscript> in a 1 M KOH electrolyte and a remarkable Tafel slope of 46.7 mV·dec <superscript>-1</superscript> . The intercalation of 2D WS <subscript>2</subscript> nanopetals enhances active sites for hydrogen adsorption, promotes charge transfer, and helps attain an electrochemical stability of 50 h, boosting HER reduction potential. Furthermore, theoretical calculations confirmed that 2D-2D interactions between 1T/2H-WS <subscript>2</subscript> and Ti <subscript>3</subscript> C <subscript>2</subscript> T <subscript> x </subscript> MXene realign the active centers for HER, thereby reducing the overpotential barrier.
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 1944-8252
- Volume :
- 16
- Issue :
- 11
- Database :
- MEDLINE
- Journal :
- ACS applied materials & interfaces
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- 38468394
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.1021/acsami.3c11642