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  • Highly Active Rhenium-, Ruthenium-, and Iridium-Based Dichalcogenide Electrocatalysts for Oxygen Reduction and Oxygen Evolution Reactions in Aprotic Media
Title: Highly Active Rhenium-, Ruthenium-, and Iridium-Based Dichalcogenide Electrocatalysts for Oxygen Reduction and Oxygen Evolution Reactions in Aprotic Media
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.  more » « less
Award ID(s):
1729420
PAR ID:
10195313
Author(s) / Creator(s):
; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ;
Date Published:
Journal Name:
Chemistry of materials
Volume:
32
Issue:
7
ISSN:
1520-5002
Page Range / eLocation ID:
2764–2773
Format(s):
Medium: X
Sponsoring Org:
National Science Foundation
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