Energy storage and conversion technologies are vital to the efficient utilization of sustainable renewable energy sources. Rechargeable lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) and the emerging sodium-ion batteries (SIBs) are considered as two of the most promising energy storage devices, and electrocatalysis processes play critical roles in energy conversion techniques that achieve mutual transformation between renewable electricity and chemical energies. It has been demonstrated that nanostructured metal chalcogenides including metal sulfides and metal selenides show great potential for efficient energy storage and conversion due to their unique physicochemical properties. In this feature article, the recent research progress on nanostructured metal sulfides and metal selenides for application in SIBs/LIBs and hydrogen/oxygen electrocatalysis (hydrogen evolution reaction, oxygen evolution reaction, and oxygen reduction reaction) is summarized and discussed. The corresponding electrochemical mechanisms, critical issues, and effective strategies towards performance improvement are presented. Finally, the remaining challenges and perspectives for the future development of metal chalcogenides in the energy research field are proposed.

Nanostructured Metal Chalcogenides for Energy Storage and Electrocatalysis

Tungsten is the heaviest transition metal in the family of common transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDCs). Despite the essential similarities of TMDCs, the considerable differences in the size and charge of the building elements can make the typical 2D layered structure suitable for various applications. There is not much flexibility on the chalcogen side, as the popular elements are S and Se. Following the successful history of transition metal sulphides in various applications, transition metal selenides are now the rising stars. On the transition metal side, WS2 and WSe2 have recently attracted considerable attention. In comparison with the Mo counterparts, W is more abundant in the Earth's crust and thus cheaper, and less toxic. The significantly larger size of W atoms can substantially tune the TMDC properties. The popularity of molybdenum dichalcogenides has somehow overshadowed the potentials of tungsten dichalcogenides. This manuscript attempts to collect the recent reports on various applications of WS2 and WSe2 to provide a general overview of tungsten dichalcogenides. Due to the popularity of sulphides, the prime focus of the present review is on WSe2, which is an emerging member of this family. Although WTe2 is not a common material like all transition metal tellurides, it is also briefly reviewed as a member of this sub-family of TMDCs owing to its unique properties, which named it as a potential candidate for giant magnetoresistance and superconductivity.

Tungsten dichalcogenides (WS2, WSe2, and WTe2): materials chemistry and applications

Summary Two-dimensional materials with abundant in-plane pores (porous 2D materials) have shown high performances as catalysts, especially for photocatalysis and electrocatalysis, owing to their distinct microstructural advantages originating from both 2D materials and porous materials. Here, the recent progress in porous 2D materials in photocatalysis and electrocatalysis is reviewed. We first highlight the influence of their special structural merits on the processes of photocatalysis and electrocatalysis, including transport of ion and/or charge carriers, surface active sites, stability, modifications, electronic band structure, and light absorption properties. Representative synthetic methods for porous 2D materials are also introduced classified by top-down and bottom-up routes. In addition, their applications in different aspects of photocatalysis and electrocatalysis are presented systematically. In conclusion, we propose some opportunities and challenges for the development of porous 2D materials, with the hope of further facilitating the applications of these emerging advanced materials in photocatalysis and electrolysis.

https://www.cell.com/matter/pdf/S2590-2385(20)30173-9.pdf

Porous Two-Dimensional Materials for Photocatalytic and Electrocatalytic Applications

Fabrication of transition metal selenides and their applications in energy storage

Metal selenides for high performance sodium ion batteries

Nanocasting synthesis of ordered mesoporous crystalline WSe2 as anode material for Li-ion batteries

Highly ordered mesoporous crystalline Mo-doped WO2 (MoxW1–xO2: 1 > x > 0.08) materials with different molybdenum contents were synthesized via a nanocasting strategy using mesoporous silica KIT-6 as a hard template. The presence of molybdenum significantly increased the rate of reduction of tungsten trioxide to tungsten dioxide using hydrogen gas as the reducing agent, and it also prevented the dioxide product from being further reduced to zerovalent metal tungsten. This molybdenum doping strategy provides a new solution for the synthesis of WO2-based materials with well-defined nanostructures. The obtained mesoporous Mo0.14W0.86O2 material possessed a metallic conductivity (0.8 Ω cm, 300 K) and a high tap density of 3.6 g cm–3. This material exhibits a high and reversible lithium storage capacity of 635 mAh g–1 and is stable up to at least 70 cycles without noticeable fading.

Ordered Mesoporous Crystalline Mo-Doped WO2 Materials with High Tap Density as Anode Material for Lithium Ion Batteries

The design and fabrication of layered transition metal chalcogenides with high exposure of crystal layer edges is one of the key paths to achieve distinctive performances in their catalysis and ele...

2D Single Crystal WSe2 and MoSe2 Nanomeshes with Quantifiable High Exposure of Layer Edges from 3D Mesoporous Silica Template.

Cation exchange reaction is a strong tool for the synthesis of new ionic nanomaterials. Most of them are isolated nanoparticles with simple geometric features, such as nanodots, nanorods and nanospheres. In this work, we demonstrated that ordered mesoporous CdS with a complex cubic Ia3d gyroidal 3D bicontinuous porous structure and large particle size can be successfully converted to crystalline CuS and Ag2S materials via cation exchange reaction without destroying the well-defined nanostructure. The change in crystal structure is an important factor for a successful conversion when the reaction is carried out without the presence of a silica template. In addition, the cation exchange reaction is sufficient for a complete compositional conversion, even when the mesostructured CdS precursor is embedded inside a mesoporous silica matrix. Our results indicate that cation exchange reaction may be applied to highly complex nanostructures with extremely large particle sizes.

Synthesis of ordered mesoporous crystalline CuS and Ag2S materials via cation exchange reaction

Facile synthesis of mesoporous Ge/C nanocomposite as anode material for lithium-ion battery

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