TY - JOUR
T1 - Persistence and Evolution of Materials Features During Catalysis Using Topological and Trivial Polymorphs of MoTe2
AU - Katz, Rebecca J.
AU - Zhu, Yanglin
AU - Mao, Zhiqiang
AU - Schaak, Raymond E.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 Wiley-VCH GmbH.
PY - 2022/1/21
Y1 - 2022/1/21
N2 - Topological materials have high carrier mobilities that can be maintained in the presence of crystal structure defects, which is useful for catalysis. Topological materials have been shown to be active catalysts, but it remains unclear if topology persists during catalysis. We studied the physical and chemical evolution of MoTe2 during photo- and electrocatalytic hydrogen production. This material offers a unique opportunity to directly compare a trivial semiconductor, 2H-MoTe2, with a topological insulator, 1T’-MoTe2, with comparable compositions, crystal structures, and surface roughnesses. We observed no major bulk changes in the materials after catalysis. The surfaces of the catalysts were significantly roughened and oxidized, but the carrier mobility of the topological phase remained high. These results suggest that topology persists during, and may be advantageous for, catalysis, and provide rationale for considering topology in the search for water-splitting catalysts.
AB - Topological materials have high carrier mobilities that can be maintained in the presence of crystal structure defects, which is useful for catalysis. Topological materials have been shown to be active catalysts, but it remains unclear if topology persists during catalysis. We studied the physical and chemical evolution of MoTe2 during photo- and electrocatalytic hydrogen production. This material offers a unique opportunity to directly compare a trivial semiconductor, 2H-MoTe2, with a topological insulator, 1T’-MoTe2, with comparable compositions, crystal structures, and surface roughnesses. We observed no major bulk changes in the materials after catalysis. The surfaces of the catalysts were significantly roughened and oxidized, but the carrier mobility of the topological phase remained high. These results suggest that topology persists during, and may be advantageous for, catalysis, and provide rationale for considering topology in the search for water-splitting catalysts.
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U2 - 10.1002/cctc.202101714
DO - 10.1002/cctc.202101714
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85121399255
SN - 1867-3880
VL - 14
JO - ChemCatChem
JF - ChemCatChem
IS - 2
M1 - e202101714
ER -