An ultraefficient surface functionalized Ti3C2Tx MXene piezocatalyst: synchronous hydrogen evolution and wastewater treatment

Sz-Nian Lai; Winston Yenyu Chen; Chao-Chun Yen; Yin-Song Liao; Po-Han Chen; Lia Stanciu; Jyh Ming Wu

doi:10.1039/D3TA06291K

An ultraefficient surface functionalized Ti₃C₂T_x MXene piezocatalyst: synchronous hydrogen evolution and wastewater treatment†

Sz-Nian Lai,

^ab Winston Yenyu Chen,^e Chao-Chun Yen,^f Yin-Song Liao,^ad Po-Han Chen,^a Lia Stanciu^e and Jyh Ming Wu

*^ac

Author affiliations

* Corresponding authors

^a Department of Materials Science and Engineering, National Tsing Hua University, 101, Section 2 Kuang Fu Road, Hsinchu 300, Taiwan
E-mail: wujm@mx.nthu.edu.tw

^b PhD Program in Prospective Functional Materials Industry, National Tsing Hua University, 101, Section 2 Kuang Fu Road, Hsinchu 300, Taiwan

^c High Entropy Materials Center, National Tsing Hua University, 101, Section 2 Kuang Fu Road, Hsinchu 300, Taiwan

^d Tsing Hua Interdisciplinary Program, National Tsing Hua University, 101, Section 2 Kuang Fu Road, Hsinchu 300, Taiwan

^e School of Materials Engineering, Purdue University, 610 Purdue Mall, West Lafayette, IN, USA

^f Department of Materials Science and Engineering, National Chung Hsing University, 145, Xingda Road, Taichung 402, Taiwan

Abstract

The Ti₃C₂T_x surface contains hydroxyl groups that can be modified through self-assembled monolayers by using (3-chloropropyl) trimethoxysilane (CPTMS) and fluoroalkylsilane (FOTS). This study demonstrates that an ultrahigh level of piezoelectricity can be achieved by modifying the Si–O bond of organo-silane headgroups in Ti₃C₂T_x. The theoretical calculation of surface functionalized Ti₃C₂T_x-FOTS reveals that its Si–O bond causes localized lattice distortion and enhances the noncentrosymmetric structure on the Ti₃C₂T_x surface. Ti₃C₂T_x-FOTS exhibits significantly higher butterfly loops than pristine Ti₃C₂T_x. The calculated rate constant of Ti₃C₂T_x-FOTS for dye degradation was 0.9 min⁻¹, 15-fold higher than that of Ti₃C₂T_x-CPTMS and 111-fold higher than that of pristine Ti₃C₂T_x. The hydrogen evolution rate of Ti₃C₂T_x-FOTS is 900.46 μmo1 g⁻¹ h⁻¹, three times higher than that of Ti₃C₂T_x. The bifunctional surface functionalized Ti₃C₂T_x-FOTS can simultaneously catalyse the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and decomposition of wastewater, demonstrating that Ti₃C₂T_x-FOTS, obtained through the surface engineering of Ti₃C₂T_x, is a superior piezocatalyst.

This article is part of the themed collection: Journal of Materials Chemistry A HOT Papers

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Article information

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1039/D3TA06291K
Article type: Paper
Submitted: 16 Oct 2023
Accepted: 22 Dec 2023
First published: 22 Dec 2023

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J. Mater. Chem. A, 2024,12, 3340-3351

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An ultraefficient surface functionalized Ti₃C₂T_x MXene piezocatalyst: synchronous hydrogen evolution and wastewater treatment

S. Lai, W. Y. Chen, C. Yen, Y. Liao, P. Chen, L. Stanciu and J. M. Wu, J. Mater. Chem. A, 2024, 12, 3340 DOI: 10.1039/D3TA06291K

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Journal of Materials Chemistry A