Category: Publications

Stability of MoS2 Edges During HER

After some tedious work on a somewhat ill-defined problem, we are happy to announce the publication of our manuscript on the stability of 2H-MoS2 edges during the electrocatalytic hydrogen evolution reaction in acidic media in J. Chem. Phys. C. The main issue is how to determine the stability of a sulfided edge in the absence of a well-defined sulfur chemical potential? – Indeed, in contrast to typical catalytic applications of MoS2, there is simply no sulfur reservoir under HER and, thus, each S that is released in the form of H2S is irreversibly lost. Our investigation concludes that the Mo-edge is likely to exchange its surface sulfur by surface OH*. These sites remain active for HER. The S-edge, on the other hand, is expected to be more stable, but once it starts loosing its S atoms, the HER activity will drop, leading to deactivation phenomena.

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Metal Ion adsorption on Birnessite (d-MnO2)

The collaboration with Alain Manceau continues! – In our article we have gained insights that is complementary to experiments regarding the adsorption and thus incorporation of metal ions on birnessite.

Hydroxide-Induced Degradation of Olefin Metathesis Catalysts: A Challenge for Metathesis in Alkaline Media

The wonderful collaboration with Deryn Fogg from the University of Ottawa has led to insightful work on the deactivation of a typical olefin metathesis catalyst. Daniel Walden did a great computational job.

As a follow-up and with the contribution of Joshua Sims, we are very happy to announce the publication of “The Impact of Water on Ru-Catalyzed Olefin Metathesis: Potent Deactivating Effects Even at Low Water Concentrations“, once again in ACS Catalysis.