Electrocatalysis from two-dimensional materials: an ERC project

Electrochemical reactions can afford hydrogen gas (H2) and small organic molecules from water and CO2, respectively and therefore offers promise for the production of fuels. Owing to their reduced dimensionality, two dimensional (2D) materials have emerged as interesting platforms for studying electrocatalysis1. In addition, their properties can largely be tuned by changing their elemental composition, their thickness and their atomic structure.
In 2018, our activity received support from the European Research Council (ERC) for exploring the influence of the defects, the crystal structure and the electronic properties on the catalytic performance towards the reduction of CO2. By developing engineering strategies, our group aims at investigating the electrocatalytic properties of 2D materials including transition metal dichalcogenides and quasi-2D transition metals2,3. To do so, we have recently reported the fabrication of electrochemical microcells using microfabrication techniques2. This device architecture allows testing individual nanosheets in order to precisely quantify the activity from the edges and the basal planes. In my talk, I will illustrate how the ERC grant was pivotal in developing my research activities in Europe.

References:
1. Voiry, D., Shin, H. S., Loh, K. P. & Chhowalla, M. Low-dimensional catalysts for hydrogen
evolution and CO2 reduction. Nat. Rev. Chem. 2, 0105 (2018).
2. Voiry, D. et al. The role of electronic coupling between substrate and 2D MoS2 nanosheets in
electrocatalytic production of hydrogen. Nat. Mater. 15, 1003–1009 (2016).
3. Li, L. et al. Role of Sulfur Vacancies and Undercoordinated Mo Regions in MoS2 Nanosheets
toward the Evolution of Hydrogen. ACS Nano 13, 6824–6834 (2019).