Nanostructured metal chalcogenides: synthesis, modification, and applications in energy conversion and storage devices

Abstract

Advanced energy conversion and storage (ECS) devices (including fuel cells, photoelectrochemical water splitting cells, solar cells, Li-ion batteries and supercapacitors) are expected to play a major role in the development of sustainable technologies that alleviate the energy and environmental challenges we are currently facing. The successful utilization of ECS devices depends critically on synthesizing new nanomaterials with merits of low cost, high efficiency, and outstanding properties. Recent progress has demonstrated that nanostructured metal chalcogenides (MCs) are very promising candidates for efficient ECS systems based on their unique physical and chemical properties, such as conductivity, mechanical and thermal stability and cyclability. In this review, we aim to provide a summary on the liquid-phase synthesis, modifications, and energy-related applications of nanostructured metal chalcogenide (MC) materials. The liquid-phase syntheses of various MC nanomaterials are primarily categorized with the preparation method (mainly 15 kinds of methods). To obtain optimized, enhanced or even new properties, the nanostructured MC materials can be modified by other functional nanomaterials such as carbon-based materials, noble metals, metal oxides, or MCs themselves. Thus, this review will then be focused on the recent strategies used to realize the modifications of MC nanomaterials. After that, the ECS applications of the MC/modified-MC nanomaterials have been systematically summarized based on a great number of successful cases. Moreover, remarks on the challenges and perspectives for future MC research are proposed (403 references).

Ambient Aqueous Growth of Cu2Te Nanostructures with Excellent Electrocatalytic Activity toward Sulfide Redox Shuttles

“…In addition, changes in the morphology often accompany anion exchange reactions as anions usually form the framework of a structure 15, 16, 17, 18, 19. All these features make anion exchange more challenging than cation exchange to control both composition and morphology 20, 21, 22, 23, 24. However, detailed investigations on the mechanisms behind morphology change during the anion exchange reaction are rare, and such changes have been simply ascribed to the Kirkendall effect 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 21, 23.…”

Solution-Based Synthesis of GeTe Octahedra at Low Temperature

“…1 Germanium telluride, GeTe, and the related GST compounds (Ge 2 Sb 2 Te 5 ) are interesting phase change materials (PCM). 2−6 GST compounds typically crystallize either in a metastable face centered cubic (C) phase or in the stable rhombohedral (R) or hexagonal (H) phase.…”

Growth, reaction and nanowire formation of Fe on the ZnS(1 0 0) surface

“…The discovery of factors that give rise to the growth of highly elongated type B NWs strengthens our understanding of the vapor-solid reaction that underpins its use as an alternative to numerous other approaches to greigite nanostructure formation in the laboratory, for example, by cultivation in magnetotactic bacteria [18], hydro-or solvo-thermal methods [19][20][21] and pyrolysis of single source precursors and other chemical methods [22][23][24][25][26][27][28]. The morphologies revealed in the present investigations consequently contribute to further proposed developments of magnetic greigite nanoparticle applications that include diverse biomedical [26,27,29] to energy storage and conversion functionalities [20,25,30].…”