Rhenium anchored Ti3C2Tx (MXene) nanosheets for electrocatalytic hydrogen production

Atomically thin Ti3C2Tx (MXene) nanosheets with rich termination groups, acting as active sites for effective functionalization, are used as an efficient solid support to host rhenium (Re) nanoparticles for the electrocatalytic hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). The newly designed electrocatalyst - Re nanoparticles anchored on Ti3C2Tx MXene nanosheets (Re@Ti3C2Tx) - exhibited promising catalytic activity with a low overpotential of 298 mV to achieve a current density of 10 mV cm(-2), while displaying excellent stability. In comparison, the pristine Ti3C2Tx MXene requires higher overpotential of 584 mV to obtain the same current density. After being stored under ambient conditions for 30 days, Re@Ti3C2Tx retained 100% of its initial catalytic activity for the HER, while the pristine Ti3C2Tx retained only 74.8% of its initial value. According to our theoretical calculations using density functional theory, dual Re anchored MXene (Re@Ti3C2Tx) exhibits a near-zero value of Gibbs free energy (Delta G(H)* = -0.06 eV) for the HER, demonstrating that the presence of Re significantly enhances the electrocatalytic activity of MXene nanosheets. This work introduces a facile strategy to develop an effective electrocatalyst for electrocatalytic hydrogen production.