(581b) Probing the Catalytic Activity of Nitride Mxenes in Real Time

The large-scale shift towards renewable energy requires the ability to reliably store this energy. This technology is still limited in terms of performance, cost, and/or ease of utilization. To remedy these issues, two-dimensional (2D) materials have been explored as low-cost, high-performing electrocatalysts. Of these 2D materials, a special class of carbides and nitrides, known as MXenes, have gained popularity due to their high tunability, conductivity, and high surface area-to-volume ratio. From these MXenes, the carbides have been the most vastly studied, but the nitride MXene has been theorized to perform better due to their superior metallic character. In this presentation, I will present on the oxygen-assisted molten salt fluoride etching synthesis method developed in my group to produce phase-pure Ti₂N nitride MXene material. Along with this, I will provide evidence of the enhanced capabilities of the nitride MXene over the benchmark carbide MXene, Ti₃C₂, when applied in the nitrogen reduction reaction (NRR), hydrogen evolution reaction (HER), and carbon dioxide reduction reaction (CO₂RR) fields of research. In each of these fields, the enhanced performance is directly related to the capability of the Ti–N to attract electrons to the structure which consequently allows the material to engage more readily with the electrolyte ions and/or dissolved reactants. I will wrap up by discussing the future directions and opportunities for nitride MXenes in advancing the fields of electrocatalysis and photocatalysis.