Lattice Distortion in High-Entropy Transition Metal Diselenide for Augmented Hydrogen Evolution.
basic_science · Level V
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- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 41388702.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1002/adma.202522787.
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Abstract
The high-entropy strategy offers a viable pathway to activate the inert basal plane of transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) for electrocatalysis. This work demonstrates that the "lattice distortion effect", one of the core effects of high-entropy materials, plays a crucial role in activating the basal plane of TMDs. A high-entropy diselenide (ReNbTaMoW)Se<sub>2</sub> (denoted as HESe<sub>2</sub>) is synthesized via solid-state reaction. Single-crystal X-ray diffraction and atomic resolution scanning transmission electron microscopy reveal a unique fivefold-modulated structure in HESe<sub>2</sub>, which unexpectedly distorts the rigid trigonal prismatic motif. HESe<sub>2</sub> exhibits exceptional activity for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER), showing a low overpotential of 31 mV at a current density of 10 mA cm<sup>-2</sup>, comparable to state-of-the-art precious metal catalysts. In situ X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy indicates that the distorted structure of HESe<sub>2</sub> remains stable during the HER process. A proton exchange membrane (PEM) electrolyser assembled with HESe<sub>2</sub> cathodic catalyst shows competitive performance and durability with negligible degradation over 400 h. Density functional theory calculations reveal the electron accumulation regions induced by lattice distortion as high-activity sites, thereby driving the augmented HER performance of HESe<sub>2</sub>. This work presents a universal strategy for boosting the basal plane activity of layered materials through unique lattice distortion effect.