Rational design of periodic porous titanium nitride MXene as a multifunctional catalytic membrane

• Published in: Nanoscale 2023-06, Vol.15 (22), p.9813-9822
• Main Authors: Zhang, Tianqi, Zheng, Zhaojian, Lu, Hao, Liu, Hao, Chen, Guobo, Xia, Shuwei, Zhou, Long, Qiu, Meng
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Density functional theory; Graphene; Heterojunctions; Methane; MXenes; Nanotechnology devices; Optoelectronics; Stiffness; Titanium nitride; Water splitting
• ISSN: 2040-3364; 2040-3372
• DOI: 10.1039/d3nr01647a

Inspired by the experimental realization of lattice-porous graphene and mesoporous MXenes, the possibility of lattice-penetrated porous titanium nitride, Ti 12 N 8 , was proposed and verified by density functional theory calculations. Stabilities, together with mechanical and electronic characteristics, are investigated and systemically discussed: both pristine and terminated (-O, -F, -OH) Ti 12 N 8 show great thermodynamic and kinetic stabilities; the reduced stiffness introduced by lattice pores makes Ti 12 N 8 better candidates for functional heterojunctions with less lattice mismatch. Subnanometer-sized pores increased the number of potential catalytic adsorption sites, and terminations allowed the band gap of MXene to reach 2.25 eV. Moreover, by changing terminations and introducing lattice channels, Ti 12 N 8 could be expected to be used for different applications: direct photocatalytic water splitting, excellent H 2 /CH 4 and He/CH 4 selectivity and admirable HER/CO 2 RR overpotentials. Such excellent characteristics could provide another possible path for flexible nanodevices with tunable mechanics, electronics and optoelectronics properties. Inspired by the experimental realization of lattice-porous graphene and mesoporous MXenes, the possibility of lattice-penetrated porous titanium nitride, Ti 12 N 8 , was proposed and verified by density functional theory calculations.