Metal-Confined Synthesis of ZnS<sub>2</sub> Monolayer Catalysts for Dinitrogen Electroreduction
Rui Zhang, Xiaohua Liu, Deyao Wu, Haibin Wang, Chuanqi Cheng, Qianjin Guo, Jing Mao, Tao Ling, Cunku Dong, Hui Liu, Bo-Qun Zhang, X. R. Zheng, Lili Han, Jingmin Zhang, Ashley R. Head, Xiao Tong, Zhixiu Liang, Jun Luo, Huolin L. Xin, Xi‐Wen Du
Abstract
Atomically thin two-dimensional (2D) materials are of great significance in catalytic, energy storage, and electronic devices. So far, such materials are limited to several categories with layered structures. Herein, we predict an unusual atomically thin ZnS2 monolayer and exploit a metal-confined chemical vapor deposition strategy for the successful preparation of such an unprecedented 2D material, where a sulfide monolayer was first grown on metal nanosheets to form a sulfide/metal/sulfide sandwich structure, and then, the metal core was etched out to obtain freestanding sulfide monolayers. As shown in this work, the ZnS<sub>2</sub> monolayer possesses unique electron-deficient properties related to the atomic structure and exhibits high catalytic activity for dinitrogen electroreduction. Our work will enable creating 2D TMD materials that were previously inexistent or inaccessible.