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Two‐Dimensional Arrays of Transition Metal Nitride Nanocrystals
Author(s) -
Xiao Xu,
Wang Hao,
Bao Weizhai,
Urbankowski Patrick,
Yang Long,
Yang Yao,
Maleski Kathleen,
Cui Linfan,
Billinge Simon J. L.,
Wang Guoxiu,
Gogotsi Yury
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
advanced materials
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 10.707
H-Index - 527
eISSN - 1521-4095
pISSN - 0935-9648
DOI - 10.1002/adma.201902393
Subject(s) - materials science , nanocrystal , nitride , nanotechnology , transition metal , catalysis , organic chemistry , chemistry , layer (electronics)
Abstract The synthesis of low‐dimensional transition metal nitride (TMN) nanomaterials is developing rapidly, as their fundamental properties, such as high electrical conductivity, lead to many important applications. However, TMN nanostructures synthesized by traditional strategies do not allow for maximum conductivity and accessibility of active sites simultaneously, which is a crucial factor for many applications in plasmonics, energy storage, sensing, and so on. Unique interconnected two‐dimensional (2D) arrays of few‐nanometer TMN nanocrystals not only having electronic conductivity in‐plane, but also allowing transport of ions and electrolyte through the porous nanosheets, which are obtained by topochemical synthesis on the surface of a salt template, are reported. As a demonstration of their application in a lithium–sulfur battery, it is shown that 2D arrays of several nitrides can achieve a high initial capacity of >1000 mAh g −1 at 0.2 C and only about 13% degradation over 1000 cycles at 1 C under a high areal sulfur loading (>5 mg cm −2 ).