Highly Active Rhenium-, Ruthenium-, and Iridium-Based Dichalcogenide Electrocatalysts for Oxygen Reduction and Oxygen Evolution Reactions in Aprotic Media

Abstract

Transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDCs) have garnered much attention recently due to their remarkable performance for different electrochemical systems. In this study, we report on the synthesis and catalysis of less studied TMDC nanoflakes (NFs) with a design space comprised of three transition metals (rhenium, ruthenium, and iridium) and three chalcogens (sulfur, selenium, and tellurium) for the oxygen reduction and evolution reactions (ORR and OER) in an aprotic hybrid electrolyte containing 0.1 M lithium bis­(trifluoromethanesulfonyl)­imide salt in 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium tetrafluoroborate ionic liquid and dimethyl sulfoxide. Our results indicate that among the tested catalysts, ReS2 exhibits the highest current density for both ORR and OER, beyond those of the state-of-the-art catalysts used in aprotic media with Li salts. We performed density functional calculations to provide a mechanistic understanding of the reactions in the ReS2 NFs/ionic liquid system. These novel bifunctional catalyst results could open a way for exploiting the unique properties of these materials in Li–O2 batteries as well as other important electrochemical systems.

Computational Identification of Transition-Metal Dichalcogenides for Electrochemical CO2 Reduction to Highly Reduced Species Beyond CO and HCOOH

“…In particular, ReS 2 and ReSe 2 are of interest more than the others because they are predicted to be superior to Cu. Furthermore, these materials are known to be stable under reduction environments. − We also confirm the stability of the candidate materials, namely, SnSe 2 , ReS 2 , and ReSe 2 , by calculating oxidation/reduction leaching potential (Figure S5). …”

High-Rate Long Cycle-Life Li-Air Battery Aided by Bifunctional InX3 (X = I and Br) Redox Mediators

“…42 In this study, we found that indium iodide (InI 3 ) and indium bromide (InBr 3 ) RMs are extremely effective in a system comprised of a hybrid electrolyte of dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) and 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium tetrafluoroborate ( E M I M -B F 4 ) i o n i c l i q u i d w i t h l i t h i u m b i s -(trifluoromethanesulfonic)imide (LiTFSI) salt along with a molybdenum disulfide (MoS 2 ) cathode that exhibit high exchange current densities during oxygen reduction and evolution reactions (ORR/OER). 43 Previous studies 44,45 have used InI 3 and InBr 3 next to multiwalled carbon nanotube cathodes, in a pure oxygen environment. In the case of InBr 3 , it was reported that the battery cycled up to 206 cycles with a small current density of 0.25 A g −1 , while for the InI 3 case, only 50 and 40 cycles were achieved with current densities of 0.5 and 1 A g −1 , respectively.…”

Concerted effect of Ni-in and S-out on ReS2 nanostructures towards high-efficiency oxygen evolution reaction

“…Majidi et al developed ReS 2 by chemical vapour transport methods and studied the OER activity in an aprotic solvent. 20 They exhibited the highest current density of 6.89 mA cm −2 , which signifies that the OER activity is remarkably lower compared to the activity in 1 M KOH. Tian et al reported a high OER activity of 280 mV overpotential at 10 mA cm −2 current density for Fe-doped NiS 2 /MoS 2 composites.…”

“…It is worth comparing the OER activity of Ni d (5)S v @ReS 2 NS with the other reported metal sulphides and the results are summarized in Table S1 (ESI †). However, very few reports demonstrate the OER 20 They exhibited the highest current density of 6.89 mA cm À2 , which signifies that the OER activity is remarkably lower compared to the activity in 1 M KOH. Tian et al reported a high OER activity of 280 mV overpotential at 10 mA cm À2 current density for Fe-doped NiS 2 /MoS 2 composites.…”

“…Therefore, 5% Ni doping on ReS 2 (Ni d (5)@ReS 2 NS) is used for developing S vacancies. The effect of saturation time for the creation of S vacancies on Ni d (5)@ReS 2 NS was investigated at different times of chemical treatment (10,20,30, and 60 min) with NaBH 4 , and the OER performance was verified (Fig. S10, ESI †).…”