IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/nat/natcom/v10y2019i1d10.1038_s41467-019-12831-0.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The rapid electrochemical activation of MoTe2 for the hydrogen evolution reaction

Author

Listed:
  • Jessica C. McGlynn

    (University of Glasgow)

  • Torben Dankwort

    (University of Kiel)

  • Lorenz Kienle

    (University of Kiel)

  • Nuno A. G. Bandeira

    (C8-Faculdade de Ciências da Universidade de Lisboa
    Universidade de Lisboa)

  • James P. Fraser

    (University of Glasgow)

  • Emma K. Gibson

    (University of Glasgow)

  • Irene Cascallana-Matías

    (University of Glasgow)

  • Katalin Kamarás

    (Hungarian Academy of Sciences)

  • Mark D. Symes

    (University of Glasgow)

  • Haralampos N. Miras

    (University of Glasgow)

  • Alexey Y. Ganin

    (University of Glasgow)

Abstract

The electrochemical generation of hydrogen is a key enabling technology for the production of sustainable fuels. Transition metal chalcogenides show considerable promise as catalysts for this reaction, but to date there are very few reports of tellurides in this context, and none of these transition metal telluride catalysts are especially active. Here, we show that the catalytic performance of metallic 1T′-MoTe2 is improved dramatically when the electrode is held at cathodic bias. As a result, the overpotential required to maintain a current density of 10 mA cm−2 decreases from 320 mV to just 178 mV. We show that this rapid and reversible activation process has its origins in adsorption of H onto Te sites on the surface of 1T′-MoTe2. This activation process highlights the importance of subtle changes in the electronic structure of an electrode material and how these can influence the subsequent electrocatalytic activity that is displayed.

Suggested Citation

  • Jessica C. McGlynn & Torben Dankwort & Lorenz Kienle & Nuno A. G. Bandeira & James P. Fraser & Emma K. Gibson & Irene Cascallana-Matías & Katalin Kamarás & Mark D. Symes & Haralampos N. Miras & Alexey, 2019. "The rapid electrochemical activation of MoTe2 for the hydrogen evolution reaction," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 10(1), pages 1-9, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:10:y:2019:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-019-12831-0
    DOI: 10.1038/s41467-019-12831-0
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-019-12831-0
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1038/s41467-019-12831-0?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:10:y:2019:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-019-12831-0. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.nature.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.