The determining role of Tx species in the catalytic potential of MXenes: Water adsorption and dissociation on Mo2CTx

abstract

Density functional theory is used to investigate the origins of the excellent catalytic activity of the Mo2CTx MXene for the water gas shift reaction. By considering different possibilities for the MXene surface termination (Tx = none, O, F, or a mixture of O and F), we conclude that its ideal composition should contain both F and O adatoms, essential for controlling the exothermicity of the reaction and avoiding saturation by oxygenated species. More precisely, while Mo2CO2 and Mo2CF2 are too inert towards water adsorption and dissociation and the bare Mo2C MXene is inactivated upon coverage by oxygenated species, our calculations predict that regions near one or two O adatoms in the midst of F surface terminations should be the active catalytic sites. Indeed, in the vicinity of the O adatoms, water adsorbs with moderate strength, dissociates with a very low energy barrier (0.14-0.20 eV), and the dissociation is moderately exothermic.

keywords

INITIO MOLECULAR-DYNAMICS; TOTAL-ENERGY CALCULATIONS; TEMPERATURE; TRANSITION; SURFACE; M2C; MO

subject category

Chemistry; Engineering

authors

Gouveia, JD; Gomes, JRB

our authors

acknowledgements

This work was developed within the scope of the project CICECO-Aveiro Institute of Materials, UIDB/50011/2020, UIDP/50011/2020 and LA/P/0006/2020, financed by national funds through the Fundacao para a Ciencia e a Tecnologia/Ministerio da Educacao e Ciencia (FCT/MEC PIDDAC) , Portugal. The authors are thankful to the National Network for Advanced Computing, Portugal, for additional computational resources granted through the project 2021.09799.CPCA.

Share this project:

Related Publications

We use cookies for marketing activities and to offer you a better experience. By clicking “Accept Cookies” you agree with our cookie policy. Read about how we use cookies by clicking "Privacy and Cookie Policy".