cm9b04117_si_001.pdf (2.16 MB)
Highly Active Rhenium‑, Ruthenium‑, and Iridium-Based Dichalcogenide Electrocatalysts for Oxygen Reduction and Oxygen Evolution Reactions in Aprotic Media
journal contribution
posted on 2020-04-01, 12:55 authored by Leily Majidi, Zahra Hemmat, Robert E. Warburton, Khagesh Kumar, Alireza Ahmadiparidari, Liang Hong, Jinglong Guo, Peter Zapol, Robert F. Klie, Jordi Cabana, Jeffrey Greeley, Larry A. Curtiss, Amin Salehi-KhojinTransition
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.