Bismuthene nanosheets produced by ionic liquid assisted grinding exfoliation and their use for oxygen reduction reaction

We report the simple synthesis of bismuthene nanosheets (BiNS) by ionic liquid assisted grinding exfoliation, followed by size selection sequential centrifugation steps for the first time. The exfoliation process results in the formation of self-assembled spherule-like superstructures with abundant...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inRSC advances Vol. 1; no. 71; pp. 43585 - 43591
Main Authors Ozhukil Valappil, Manila, Ganguly, Abhijit, Benson, John, Pillai, Vijayamohanan K, Alwarappan, Subbiah, Papakonstantinou, Pagona
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published England Royal Society of Chemistry 09.12.2020
The Royal Society of Chemistry
Subjects
adsorption
Basal plane
Bins
Bismuth
centrifugation
Chemistry
Clean energy
dissociation
Electrocatalysts
electrochemistry
Exfoliation
Grinding
Hopping conduction
Ionic liquids
Nanosheets
Oxygen reduction reactions
Self-assembly
Statistical analysis
Superstructures
synthesis
Topological insulators
topology
X ray photoelectron spectroscopy
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Summary:We report the simple synthesis of bismuthene nanosheets (BiNS) by ionic liquid assisted grinding exfoliation, followed by size selection sequential centrifugation steps for the first time. The exfoliation process results in the formation of self-assembled spherule-like superstructures with abundant edge sites, which are able to catalyze the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) via a two-electron pathway, with a higher efficiency than the bulk Bismuth. We rationalize the enhanced ORR activity of the BiNS to: (i) the presence of 1 dimensional topological edge states, which provide strong conduction channels for electron hopping between the bismuth layers and (ii) the more active role of edge sites in facilitating O 2 adsorption and dissociation of O-O bonds compared to the basal plane. The present study provides a pathway for employing 2D topological insulators as a new class of electrocatalysts for clean energy applications. Bismuthene nanosheets were synthesized by ionic liquid assisted grinding exfoliation. Solvent evaporation led to the formation of self-assembled nanospherules. The electron rich edges of the nanosheets enhanced the oxygen reduction reaction.
Bibliography:Electronic supplementary information (ESI) available: Statistical analysis of FESEM, XPS and Raman spectroscopic data, and supporting figures of morphological, XPS, Raman, XRD and ORR study. See DOI
10.1039/d0ra09763b
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First 2 authors have contributed equally.
ISSN:2046-2069
2046-2069
DOI:10.1039/d0ra09763b