Search

Transition-metal dichalcogenides (TMDCs) such as MoS 2 are Earth-abundant catalysts that are attractive for many chemical processes, including the carbon dioxide reduction reaction (CO2RR). While many studies have correlated synthetic preparation and architectures with macroscopic electrocatalytic performance, not much is known about the state of MoS 2 under functional conditions, particularly its interactions with target molecules like CO 2 . Here, we combine operando Mo K- and S K-edge X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) with first-principles simulations to track changes in the electronic structure of MoS 2 nanosheets during CO2RR. Comparison of the simulated and measured XAS discerned the existence of Mo-CO 2 binding in the active state. This state perturbs hybridized Mo 4d-S 3p states and is critically mediated by sulfur vacancies induced electrochemically. The study sheds new light on the underpinnings of the excellent performance of MoS 2 in CO2RR. The electronic signatures we reveal could be a screening criterion toward further gains in activity and selectivity of TMDCs in general.

The coexistence of ferroelectricity and metallicity seems paradoxical, since the itinerant electrons in metals should screen the long-range dipole interactions necessary for dipole ordering. The recent discovery of the polar metal LiOsO 3 was therefore surprising [as discussed earlier in Y. Shi et al., Nat. Mater . 2013 , 12 , 1024]. It is thought that the coordination preferences of the Li play a key role in stabilizing the LiOsO 3 polar metal phase, but an investigation from the combined viewpoints of core-state specificity and symmetry has yet to be done. Here, we apply the novel technique of extreme ultraviolet second harmonic generation (XUV-SHG) and find a sensitivity to the broken inversion symmetry in the polar metal phase of LiOsO 3 with an enhanced feature above the Li K-edge that reflects the degree of Li atom displacement as corroborated by density functional theory calculations. These results pave the way for time-resolved probing of symmetry-breaking structural phase transitions on femtosecond time scales with element specificity.