Rhenium anchored Ti3C2Tx (MXene) nanosheets for electrocatalytic hydrogen production

Selengesuren Suragtkhuu, Suvdanchimeg Sunderiya, Solongo Purevdorj, Munkhjargal Bat-Erdene, Batjargal Sainbileg, Michitoshi Hayashi, Abdulaziz S. R. Bati, Joseph G. Shapter, Sarangerel Davaasambuu, Munkhbayar Batmunkh

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

7 Scopus citations

Abstract

Atomically thin Ti3C2Tx (MXene) nanosheets with rich termination groups, acting as active sites for effective functionalization, are used as an efficient solid support to host rhenium (Re) nanoparticles for the electrocatalytic hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). The newly designed electrocatalyst – Re nanoparticles anchored on Ti3C2Tx MXene nanosheets (Re@Ti3C2Tx) – exhibited promising catalytic activity with a low overpotential of 298 mV to achieve a current density of 10 mV cm−2, while displaying excellent stability. In comparison, the pristine Ti3C2Tx MXene requires higher overpotential of 584 mV to obtain the same current density. After being stored under ambient conditions for 30 days, Re@Ti3C2Tx retained 100% of its initial catalytic activity for the HER, while the pristine Ti3C2Tx retained only 74.8% of its initial value. According to our theoretical calculations using density functional theory, dual Re anchored MXene (Re@Ti3C2Tx) exhibits a near-zero value of Gibbs free energy (ΔGH* = −0.06 eV) for the HER, demonstrating that the presence of Re significantly enhances the electrocatalytic activity of MXene nanosheets. This work introduces a facile strategy to develop an effective electrocatalyst for electrocatalytic hydrogen production.
Original languageEnglish (US)
JournalNanoscale Advances
DOIs
StatePublished - Dec 5 2022
Externally publishedYes

Bibliographical note

KAUST Repository Item: Exported on 2023-01-05
Acknowledgements: This research was supported by Fellow research grant of National University of Mongolia (P2021-4197). This work was also financially supported by the Australian Research Council (DE220100521 and DP200101217). The authors thank the research group of Dr Munkhjargal Burenjargal at the National University of Mongolia for their facility support. M. H. and B. S. are thankful to the Center of Atomic Initiative for New Materials, National Taiwan University (project No. 109L4000 and 110L9008) under the Ministry of Education of Taiwan for the funding support. A. S. R. B acknowledges support from King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) through the Ibn Rushd Postdoctoral Fellowship Award. The authors gratefully acknowledge the use of Centre for Microscopy and Microanalysis (CMM) facilities at the University of Queensland, Australia.
This publication acknowledges KAUST support, but has no KAUST affiliated authors.

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