Exploring the potential of 2D chalcogenide films to operate at scale as electrocatalysts for hydrogen production in proton exchange membrane electrolysers Arun Kumar Samuel, Alexey Y. Ganin, NiKolaj Gadegaard, David Moran University of Glasgow, UK Hydrogen can be produced in a clean and sustainable manner by water electrolysis in a device called electrolyser 1 . However, an electrocatalyst is required for the electrolyser to operate at its maximum efficiency. Noble metals are currently the catalysts of choice in commercial electrolysers, but different classes of materials have been explored as alternative. Among these, 2D chalcogenides are promising targets, as they can be deposited as atomically thin and continuous films. The continuity allows for the maximisation of the area of the catalyst while the atomic thickness minimises the material cost. Films of 2D materials on suitable supports (such as carbon cloth) has been shown before 2,3 but they have never been tested in a proton exchange membrane electrolysers, which is the best way of producing hydrogen at scale. In this work, we have chosen the metallic 1T’-MoTe 2 as a model 2D material due to its previously reported ability to catalyse the hydrogen evolution reaction from water. We achieved the film growth on a carbon cloth substrate in a custom-built CVD reactor using the route developed in our group that preferentially produces metallic 1T’- MoTe 2 films over semiconducting polymorph on Si/SiO 2 4 . The optimisation of the process by varying precursor, deposition temperature and carrier-gas-flow rates led to the targeted 1T’-MoTe 2 phase confirmed by XRD and Raman spectroscopy. The formation of homogenous surface coverage was also validated by SEM. Routine electrochemical testing of films allowed for the evaluation of catalytic performance of the films for the hydrogen evolution reaction in 1M H 2 SO 4 . Finally, we discuss preliminary research data of testing at scale in a single-stack electrolyser that could lead to a more sustainable and cost-effective way of producing hydrogen through water
electrolysis. References 1. Alexey Y. Ganin and Mark D. Symes, Curr.Opin.Electrochem. 2022, 34, 101001. 2. J. C. McGlynn et al., Sustain. Energy Fuels 2020, 4 (9), 4473.
3. J. C. McGlynn et al., Nat. Commun. 2019, 10, 4916. 4. J. P. Fraser et al., Commun. Mater., 2020, 1, 48.
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