Ab initio study of adsorption and diffusion of lithium on transition metal dichalcogenide monolayers

• Xiaoli Sun and
• Zhiguo Wang

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 2711–2718, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.270

• structure can also affect the energy conversion efficiency, for example in the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). The basal plane of 2H-MoS2 is inert [30], where that of 1T'-MoS2 is catalytically active for HER [31]. Until now, there is no systematic study on the family of transition metal dichalcogenide

Enhanced photoelectrochemical water splitting performance using morphology-controlled BiVO₄ with W doping

• Xin Zhao and
• Zhong Chen

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 2640–2647, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.264

• durability in aqueous environments, as well as low production cost [4]. Compared with the hydrogen evolution at the semiconductor photocathode, the low efficiency of oxygen evolution at the photoanode poses a great challenge to the water splitting process [5]. As a result, great efforts have been made in

Two-dimensional carbon-based nanocomposites for photocatalytic energy generation and environmental remediation applications

• Suneel Kumar,
• Ashish Kumar,
• Ashish Bahuguna,
• Vipul Sharma and
• Venkata Krishnan

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 1571–1600, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.159

• investigated for hydrogen evolution reactions and environmental remediation applications [13][14][15][16][17][18][19]. In the last 25 years, the emergence of carbon-based nanomaterials has opened new ways of harvesting solar energy and generation of clean energy in the form of hydrogen [20][21]. Carbon is one

• reactions but mainly hydrogen evolution reactions [67]. The lattice structure of g-C3N4 is composed of C–N with short interlayer distances and amino functional groups with larger periodic vacancies [67]. In addition to this, g-C3N4 possesses excellent chemical and thermal stability, unique surface

• to enhanced photocatalytic activity. Finally, the third step involves the reduction and oxidation of adsorbed species at the different reaction sites, wherein hydrogen production takes place by the reduction of H+ ions in the CB. Hydrogen evolution by water splitting is promoted by the presence of

Preparation of thick silica coatings on carbon fibers with fine-structured silica nanotubes induced by a self-assembly process

• Benjamin Baumgärtner,
• Hendrik Möller,
• Thomas Neumann and
• Dirk Volkmer

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 1145–1155, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.116

• field of adsorption enable the adaption to catalytic applications [2]. For example, cobalt diselenide nanoparticles can be grafted onto a carbon fiber felt creating a three-dimensional hydrogen evolution cathode based on the high conductivity of carbon fibers [3]. A primary objective of the present

Growth, structure and stability of sputter-deposited MoS₂ thin films

• Reinhard Kaindl,
• Bernhard C. Bayer,
• Roland Resel,
• Thomas Müller,
• Viera Skakalova,
• Gerlinde Habler,
• Rainer Abart,
• Alexey S. Cherevan,
• Dominik Eder,
• Maxime Blatter,
• Fabian Fischer,
• Jannik C. Meyer,
• Dmitry K. Polyushkin and
• Wolfgang Waldhauser

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 1115–1126, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.113

• electrochemical processes such as the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) in electrochemical water splitting. For both types of applications, industrially scalable fabrication methods with good control over the MoS2 film properties are crucial. Here, we investigate scalable physical vapour deposition (PVD) of MoS2

• measurements suggest directions for future work on our PVD MoS2 films. Keywords: electrode; hydrogen evolution reaction (HER); magnetron sputter deposition; MoS2; reticulated vitreous carbon (RVC) foam; SiO2/Si substrate; Introduction Molybdenum disulphide (MoS2) is a layered chemical compound comprised of

• noble metal-free catalytic material for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) in electrochemical water splitting, which is fundamental to a hydrogen-based energy economy [14]. Density function theory showed the feasibility of MoS2 supported on graphite to catalyse electrochemical hydrogen evolution at a

Growth and morphological analysis of segmented AuAg alloy nanowires created by pulsed electrodeposition in ion-track etched membranes

• Ina Schubert,
• Loic Burr,
• Christina Trautmann and
• Maria Eugenia Toimil-Molares

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 1272–1280, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.131

• hydrogen evolution. The blue and the red CVs reveal that the current onset for the reduction of ions is initiated at potentials closer to 0 V than for the ions (Figure 1a). Accordingly, the reduction peak, indicating diffusion limited deposition, for the Au electrolyte is approached at −1.4 V. In the CV

Electrocatalysis on the nm scale

• R. Jürgen Behm

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 1008–1009, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.103

• theoretical description of important electrocatalytic reactions, such as hydrogen evolution/water splitting [4][5] or electrocatalytic ammonia synthesis [6]. Additionally, mechanistic studies of electrocatalytic reactions, such as O2 reduction [7], CO oxidation [8] or the electrooxidation of small organic

Kelvin probe force microscopy in liquid using electrochemical force microscopy

• Liam Collins,
• Stephen Jesse,
• Jason I. Kilpatrick,
• Alexander Tselev,
• M. Baris Okatan,
• Sergei V. Kalinin and
• Brian J. Rodriguez

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 201–214, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.19

• are shown in Figure 1e. In some respects, OLBS (Figure 1a–d) is a force-based analogue of the macroscopic current-based CV measurement. Hydrogen evolution can be observed for Au at potentials of <−200 mV (Figure 1e), but not for HOPG, showing that HOPG is more electrocatalytically inert than the Au

Liquid fuel cells

• Grigorii L. Soloveichik

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 1399–1418, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.153

• towards hydrolysis turned out to be more efficient catalysts than platinum. Thiourea, a known hydrogen evolution inhibitor, was also used as an additive to increase the coulombic efficiency [181]. Nanoporous gold electrodes prepared by extracting Ag from an AgAu alloy catalyze the oxidation of AB at a

Restructuring of an Ir(210) electrode surface by potential cycling

• Khaled A. Soliman,
• Dieter M. Kolb,
• Ludwig A. Kibler and
• Timo Jacob

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 1349–1356, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.148

• (210) in 0.1 M H2SO4. Faceted structures are obtained electrochemically as a function of time by cycling at a scanrate of 1 V·s−1 between −0.28 and 0.70 V vs SCE, i.e., between the onset of hydrogen evolution and the surface oxidation regime. The electrochemical behaviour in sulfuric acid solution is

• ][11], (ii) structural changes in operando, e.g., for hydrogen evolution at PdAu nanoparticles [12], (iii) removal of islands by adsorbates, such as electrochemical annealing of Au(100) by adsorbed chloride [13][14], (iv) dissolution of metals at positive potentials and restructuring by oxidation

Enhanced photocatalytic hydrogen evolution by combining water soluble graphene with cobalt salts

• Jing Wang,
• Ke Feng,
• Hui-Hui Zhang,
• Bin Chen,
• Zhi-Jun Li,
• Qing-Yuan Meng,
• Li-Ping Zhang,
• Chen-Ho Tung and
• Li-Zhu Wu

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 1167–1174, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.128

• , Beijing 100190, P. R. China 10.3762/bjnano.5.128 Abstract There is tremendous effort put in the pursuit for cheap and efficient catalysts for photocatalytic hydrogen evolution systems. Herein, we report an active catalyst that uses the earth-abundant element cobalt and water-dispersible sulfonated

• graphene. The photocatalytic hydrogen evolution activity of the catalyst was tested by using triethanolamine (TEOA) as electron donor and eosin Y (EY) as the photosensitizer under LED irradiation at 525 nm. Hydrogen was produced constantly even after 20 h, and the turnover number (TON) reached 148 (H2/Co

• ) in 4 h with respect to the initial concentration of the added cobalt salts was shown to be 5.6 times larger than that without graphene. Keywords: cobalt salts; earth-abundant catalyst; photocatalysis; photocatalytic hydrogen evolution; water-dispersible sulfonated-graphene; Introduction

Functionalized nanostructures for enhanced photocatalytic performance under solar light

• Liejin Guo,
• Dengwei Jing,
• Maochang Liu,
• Yubin Chen,
• Shaohua Shen,
• Jinwen Shi and
• Kai Zhang

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 994–1004, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.113

• efficient hydrogen evolution. Generally, MCM-41 is not photo-reactive. But it can be activated by coupling with a semiconductor or doping a transitional metal. Figure 3 shows the proposed charge separation mechanism within a representative transitional metal-containing molecular sieve photocatalyst [21]. In

• nanosized NiS surface heterojunctions. The hydrogen evolution rate over this photocatalyst could reach 1.4 mmol/h, with a QE of 33.9%. This efficiency is much higher than that of many photocatalysts containing noble metals. As shown in Figure 4, in the hybrid photocatalyst, the NiS nanoparticles can serve

• preferential exposure of Zn(0001) faces showed high photocatalytic activity [38]. Wang et al. constructed ZnO–CdS heterostructures by employing ZnO rods enclosed with well-developed {1100} and {0001} facets to promote photocatalytic hydrogen evolution [39]. Pan et al. found that {001}, {101} and {010} facets

Double layer effects in a model of proton discharge on charged electrodes

• Johannes Wiebe and
• Eckhard Spohr

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 973–982, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.111

• the most fundamental electrochemical reactions is proton discharge from an aqueous solution to a charged electrode, which is the first step of the hydrogen evolution reaction. This basic electrocatalytic reaction and its dependence on the nature and the surface structure of the electrode, on

• the silver surface are much smaller than those for the platinum surface. While this seems to be in agreement with the experimental evidence that hydrogen evolution on silver is much slower than on platinum [31][32], it may also be the consequence of model limitations, as both models were constructed

Volcano plots in hydrogen electrocatalysis – uses and abuses

• Paola Quaino,
• Fernanda Juarez,
• Elizabeth Santos and
• Wolfgang Schmickler

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 846–854, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.96

• , Córdoba, Argentina 10.3762/bjnano.5.96 Abstract Sabatier’s principle suggests, that for hydrogen evolution a plot of the rate constant versus the hydrogen adsorption energy should result in a volcano, and several such plots have been presented in the literature. A thorough examination of the data shows

• good catalyst. Keywords: electrocatalysis; hydrogen evolution; Sabatier’s principle; volcano curve; Introduction Sabatier’s principle [1] is one of the oldest rules in catalysis. For a two-step reaction passing through an adsorbed intermediate, like the hydrogen reaction, it states that the

• catalysis is scarce. In electrochemistry, Gerischer [2] and Parsons [3][4] were the first to point out that certain models for the hydrogen reaction predicted a volcano-like curve. However, it was Trasatti [5] who collected experimental data and constructed the first volcano curve for hydrogen evolution

Enhancement of photocatalytic H₂ evolution of eosin Y-sensitized reduced graphene oxide through a simple photoreaction

• Weiying Zhang,
• Yuexiang Li,
• Shaoqin Peng and
• Xiang Cai

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 801–811, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.92

• hydroxy groups are gradually removed from GO, resulting in an increase of sp2 π-conjugated domains and defect carbons with holes for the formed RGO. The RGO conductivity increases due to the restoration of sp2 π-conjugated domains. The photocatalytic activity of EY-RGO/Pt for hydrogen evolution was

• -RGO24/Pt for hydrogen evolution rises up to 12.9% under visible light irradiation (λ ≥ 420 nm), and 23.4% under monochromatic light irradiation at 520 nm. Fluorescence spectra and transient absorption decay spectra of the EY-sensitized RGO confirm that the electron transfer ability of RGO increases with

• increasing irradiation time. The adsorption quantity of EY on the surface of RGO enhances, too. The two factors ultimately result in an enhancement of the photocatalytic hydrogen evolution over EY-RGO/Pt with increasing irradiation time. A possible mechanism is discussed. Keywords: eosin Y sensitization

Adsorption and oxidation of formaldehyde on a polycrystalline Pt film electrode: An in situ IR spectroscopy search for adsorbed reaction intermediates

• Zenonas Jusys and
• R. Jürgen Behm

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 747–759, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.87

• hydrogen evolution. The latter slightly decays with time, which can be explained by a build-up of COad from dissociative adsorption of formaldehyde (see below). For potentials between 0.1 and 0.4 V, the Faradaic current increases steeply upon the admission of formaldehyde, passes a pronounced maximum and

• noted that the COad formation due to dissociative adsorption of formaldehyde at 0.0 V decreases the current for hydrogen evolution only slightly (see above). Apparently, an efficient hydrogen evolution is possible even on largely COad blocked electrode [69]. The integrated intensities of the bridge

Nanostructure sensitization of transition metal oxides for visible-light photocatalysis

• Hongjun Chen and
• Lianzhou Wang

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 696–710, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.82

• –CdS heterostructures and found that the hydrogen evolution rate over ZnO disk–CdS nanoparticle heterostructures is 2.8 times higher than the hydrogen evolution rate of the ZnO rod–CdS nanoparticle because photoexcited electron–hole separation is significantly enhanced by polar interfaces [35] and the

High activity of Ag-doped Cd_0.1Zn_0.9S photocatalyst prepared by the hydrothermal method for hydrogen production under visible-light irradiation

• Leny Yuliati,
• Melody Kimi and
• Mustaffa Shamsuddin

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 587–595, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.69

• (Perkin Elmer Lambda 900). BaSO4 was used as a reflectance standard. Photocatalytic testing. As described in the previous studies [9][16], photocatalytic hydrogen evolution was performed in a closed side irradiated-Pyrex cell equipped with a water condenser to maintain the temperature constant during the

• )-doped Cd0.1Zn0.9S prepared by the co-precipitation method. Photocatalytic hydrogen evolution on Cd0.1Zn0.9S (filled circles), Ag(0.01)-doped Cd0.1Zn0.9S (empty triangles), Ag(0.03)-doped Cd0.1Zn0.9S (empty circles), and Ag(0.05)-doped Cd0.1Zn0.9S (empty squares) prepared by the hydrothermal method under

• visible-light irradiation. DR UV–visible spectra of (a) fresh and (b) used Ag(0.01)-doped Cd0.1Zn0.9S prepared by the hydrothermal method after second run. Photocatalytic hydrogen evolution on Cd0.1Zn0.9S (filled circles), Ag(0.01)-doped Cd0.1Zn0.9S (empty triangles), Ag(0.03)-doped Cd0.1Zn0.9S (empty

Dye-sensitized Pt@TiO₂ core–shell nanostructures for the efficient photocatalytic generation of hydrogen

• Jun Fang,
• Lisha Yin,
• Shaowen Cao,
• Yusen Liao and
• Can Xue

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 360–364, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.41

• particle bridge. Keywords: charge transfer; dye-sensitization; photocatalysis; photocatalyst; solar fuels; water splitting; Introduction Since Honda and Fujishima reported the effective hydrogen evolution from water splitting by a TiO2 and Pt electrode in a photoelectrochemical cell in the early 1970s [1

Confinement dependence of electro-catalysts for hydrogen evolution from water splitting

• Mikaela Lindgren and
• Itai Panas

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 195–201, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.21

• efficiencies of transition metals decorated with hydroxide interfaces in facilitating the electro-catalytic hydrogen evolution reaction. A computational strategy is developed to select an electro-catalyst for hydrogen evolution (HE), where the choice of a transition metal catalyst is guided by the confining

• environment. The latter may be recast into a nominal pressure experienced by the evolving H2 molecule. We arrived at a novel perspective on the uniqueness of oxide supported atomic Pt as a HE catalyst under ambient conditions. Keywords: confinement; corrosion; DFT; electro-catalysis; hydrogen evolution

• hydrogen evolution activity in water splitting by tailoring TM(OH)2-Pt electro-catalyst/electrode assemblies, where TM represents Mn2+, Fe2+, Co2+ and Ni2+. The role of these hydroxides was to catalyze water dissociation. In this context, the objective of the present study is to contribute a novel

The role of oxygen and water on molybdenum nanoclusters for electro catalytic ammonia production

• Jakob G. Howalt and
• Tejs Vegge

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 111–120, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.11

• electrochemical ammonia production with seemingly low Faradaic losses to hydrogen evolution [1][2]. To produce ammonia electrochemically, one can either use a liquid or a solid electrolyte, but these effectively require wet conditions to obtain sufficient protonic conduction [3][4]. The presence of water may give

• and H2(g) a Faradaic loss due to hydrogen evolution should be expected and a reduction of the oxygen skin on the surface would also be expected at this oxygen coverage and potential. For the Mo13O6 nanocluster with N2 adsorbed at an applied potential of U = −0.45 V, the preferred mechanism is the

• to the large computational cost associated with a comprehensive investigation. This is a potentially significant assumption, since the adsorption energies may decrease with higher coverage of certain species [27]. For hydrogen evolution on the Mo13O6 nanocluster, this could, e.g., have the

Some reflections on the understanding of the oxygen reduction reaction at Pt(111)

• Ana M. Gómez-Marín,
• Ruben Rizo and
• Juan M. Feliu

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2013, 4, 956–967, doi:10.3762/bjnano.4.108

• region, as a result of a surface reordering after the oxygen adsorption with high coverage (Figure 2) [2][3]. In this respect, the surface is uniform from the topographic point of view between 1.20 V and the beginning of hydrogen evolution, but the surface composition changes in the potential scale. The

Preparation of NiS/ZnIn₂S₄ as a superior photocatalyst for hydrogen evolution under visible light irradiation

• Liang Wei,
• Yongjuan Chen,
• Jialin Zhao and
• Zhaohui Li

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2013, 4, 949–955, doi:10.3762/bjnano.4.107

• for hydrogen evolution under visible light irradiation was also investigated. It was found that the photocatalytic hydrogen evolution activity over hexagonal ZnIn2S4 can be significantly increased by loading NiS as a co-catalyst. The formation of a good junction between ZnIn2S4 and NiS via the two

• step hydrothermal processes is beneficial for the directional migration of the photo-excited electrons from ZnIn2S4 to NiS. The highest photocatalytic hydrogen evolution rate (104.7 μmol/h), which is even higher than that over Pt/ZnIn2S4 nanocomposite (77.8 μmol/h), was observed over an optimum NiS

• loading amount of 0.5 wt %. This work demonstrates a high potential of the developing of environmental friendly, cheap noble-metal-free co-catalyst for semiconductor-based photocatalytic hydrogen evolution. Keywords: co-catalyst; hydrogen evolution; NiS; photocatalytic; photocatalysis; visible light

In situ monitoring magnetism and resistance of nanophase platinum upon electrochemical oxidation

• Eva-Maria Steyskal,
• Stefan Topolovec,
• Stephan Landgraf,
• Heinz Krenn and
• Roland Würschum

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2013, 4, 394–399, doi:10.3762/bjnano.4.46

• ). Prior to the measurements the electrode was activated by repeatedly cycling between the oxygen- and hydrogen-evolution regimes. A typical cyclic voltammogram (CV) taken for sample PtER is shown by the gray curve in Figure 1. As the potential is varied with triangular characteristics, the CV curve is run

Characterization and properties of micro- and nanowires of controlled size, composition, and geometry fabricated by electrodeposition and ion-track technology

• Maria Eugenia Toimil-Molares

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2012, 3, 860–883, doi:10.3762/bjnano.3.97

• overvoltages, side reactions, such as hydrogen evolution, are avoided. Figure 7 displays transmission electron microscopy (TEM) images of representative (a) single- and (b) polycrystalline Cu nanowires together with their respective selected-area electron diffraction (SAED) pattern. The single-crystalline Cu