OPHERAN · Beyond van der Waals: Atomic Design and Operando Insights into Monolayer Transition Metal Nitride Electrocatalysts for Hydrogen Evolution Reaction

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Project objective

Two-dimensional (2D) materials are transforming the field of electrocatalysis by offering tunable physicochemical properties and favorable reaction kinetics. Within this rapidly expanding family, transition metal nitrides (TMNs) have recently emerged as an up-and-coming class of electrocatalysts due to their unique combination of metallic conductivity, thermochemical robustness, and rich d-electron chemistry, enabling efficient operation under both acidic and alkaline conditions. However, the atomic-level understanding of hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) kinetics on 2D TMNs remains largely unexplored due to a lack of reliable synthetic strategies capable of producing monolayers with well-defined crystallographic orientation, composition, and controlled defectiveness. This project aims to overcome this challenge by combining a bottom-up precision synthesis with operando atomistic characterization to establish fundamental insights into HER on 2D TMN monolayers. A confined vapor–liquid–solid (cVLS) approach will be employed to synthesize W-based 2D TMNs (WN, W2N₃, W₅N₆) with controlled stoichiometries and engineered defects. The HER kinetics will be directly probed under operando conditions using electrochemical scanning tunneling microscopy (EC-STM), allowing real-time visualization of hydrogen adsorption, defect-mediated activity, surface reconstructions, and dynamic processes such as hydrogen spillover and bubble formation at the sub-nanometer scale. By establishing a synthesis–structure–reactivity correlation, this project will decisively advance beyond the current state of the art, providing the atomic-level foundation to design non-van der Waals 2D electrocatalysts for high-performance energy conversion applications.

Original text from CORDIS.

Participants

• UNIVERSITA DEGLI STUDI DI PADOVA · PadovaCoordinatorItaly
• HELMHOLTZ-ZENTRUM BERLIN FUR MATERIALIEN UND ENERGIE GMBH · BerlinGermany

Links

• View on CORDIS
• DOI: 10.3030/101274575