Search

Aqueous Zn ion batteries (AZIBs) represent a promising candidate for the next‐generation energy storage and conversion systems due to their high safety and cost‐effectiveness. However, sluggish kinetics arising from interface desolvation processes pose challenges in achieving high‐power density and long cycle life for AZIBs. Here, it is discovered for the first time that heterostructures utilize built‐in electric field forces to promote the desolvation process at the electrode‐electrolyte interface. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations and structural characterization demonstrate that heterogeneous structures simultaneously accelerate the desolvation process and enhance ion diffusion, resulting in the outstanding rate performance (160.9 mA h g−1 at 5 A g−1) of TiS2‐TiO2 heterostructures, far exceeding that of a conventional TiS2 electrode with 14.2% capacity retention. Meanwhile, the insertion/extraction of the desolvated charge carriers reduced the volume change of TiS2‐TiO2 material during the charging/discharging processes, enabling the long‐lasting cycling stability (108.6 mA h g−1 after 2000 cycles at 0.5 A g−1). This study provides instructive electrode design strategies for the construction of fast‐charging electrochemical energy storage systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

TiS2 has received significant attention as a promising anode for "Rocking‐Chair"‐type aqueous Zn‐ion batteries due to the large interlayer spacing and low discharge plateau. However, the structural distortion caused by the embedding of divalent Zn2+ as well as the undesirable hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) severely affects their cycling stability. Herein, a facet‐dependent mechanism is first deeply investigated to understand charge storage behaviors of TiS2 via differential electrochemical mass spectrometry, in situ electrochemical quartz crystal microbalance, and in situ X‐ray diffraction characterizations. By regulating the exposed crystal facets of TiS2 from (001) (TS (001)) to (011) (TS(011)), HER can be effectively inhibited, and the charge storage mechanism is transformed from Zn2+ insertion/extraction dominating to H+ insertion/extraction dominating, resulting in faster charge transfer kinetics and strong structure stability during long‐term cycling. Hence, TS(011) delivers a higher reversible capacity of 212.9 mAh g−1 at 0.1 A g−1 and a strong cycling stability of 74% capacity retention over 1000 cycles, much better than that of TS (001) with a reversible capacity of 164.7 mAh g−1 at 0.1 A g−1, a capacity retention of 17% after 1000 cycles. These new findings can provide deep insight into the rational design of high‐performance intercalation‐type electrode materials for energy storage applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A two‐dimensional titanium disulfide (TiS2) nanosheet film is prepared on a YAG crystal substrate. The saturated absorption behavior of TiS2 on the YAG substrate is investigated. Then, TiS2 is successfully employed as a modulation element to develop a Tm:YAG ceramic eye‐safe pulsed laser. With a 7.04 W absorbed pump light and a 3% transmission of output coupler, the greatest average optical power, and the least pulse width (PD) are 233 mW and 524 ns, separately. The pulse repeated frequency of 69 kHz is generated, while the single pulse energy (SPE) is 3.38 µJ. Based on the experimental results, TiS2 nanosheet films possess the practical value as saturable absorbers for 2.0 μm eye‐safe pulsed lasers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The co‐intercalation of solvent molecules along with Na+ into the crystal lattice of electrode materials is an undesired process in sodium batteries. An exception is the intercalation of ether solvated alkali ions into graphite, a fast and highly reversible process. Here, reversible co‐intercalation is shown to also be possible for other layered materials, namely titanium disulfide. Operando X‐ray diffraction and dilatometry are used to demonstrate different storage mechanisms for different electrolyte solvents. Diglyme is found to co‐intercalate into the TiS2 leading to a change in the voltage profile and an increase in the interlayer spacing (≈150%). This behavior is different compared to other solvents, which expand much less during Na storage (24% for tetrahydrofuran [THF] and for a carbonate mixture). For all solvents, specific capacities (2nd cycle) exceed 250 mAh g−1 whereas THF exhibited the best stability after 100 cycles. The solvent co‐intercalation is rationalized by density functional theory and linked to the stability of the solvation shells, which is largest for diglyme. Finally, the TiS2 electrode with diglyme electrolyte is paired with a graphite electrode to realize the first proof‐of‐concept solvent co‐intercalation battery, that is, a battery with two electrodes that both rely on reversible co‐intercalation of solvent molecules. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The potential energy surfaces (PESs) and band gap landscapes (BGLs) of MoS2 and TiS2 monolayers were studied with a set of density functional methods. For our best knowledge, the PESs for transition metal dichalcogenides as a function of sulfur atom coordinates were studied for the first time. It is found that the energy differences between chemically meaningful points of the PESs are quite stable with respect to the density functional choice. The BGLs are characterized by "wavelike" structure with maxima that refer to 2H forms and minima that refer to 1T forms and ripples between them. It is shown that thermal vibrations may reduce the band gap in 2H form of MoS2. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The recent research on aqueous zinc‐ion hybrid supercapacitors (ZHSCs) based on zinc metal anode has attracted great attention in energy storage systems due to the inherited merits of supercapacitors and batteries. However, the problems of sluggish diffusion of zinc ion, low utilization rate of zinc foil, and uncontrollable zinc dendrites limit the application of ZHSCs. In order to effectively solve the above problems, a ZHSC is constructed and investigated with a 2D layered titanium disulfide (TiS2) (de)intercalation battery‐type anode and an active carbon (AC) capacitor‐type cathode in 2 m ZnSO4 electrolyte. Notably, this ZHSC demonstrates a high specific capacitance of 249 F g−1 (0.2 A g−1), a superior energy density of 112 Wh kg−1 (180 W kg−1), and a high power density of 3600 W kg−1 (35 Wh kg−1) based on the total weight of the anode and cathode active materials. Furthermore, the ZHSC also shows long service life with a capacitance retention of 92% after 5000 cycles at a current density of 2 A g−1. This work provides a concept to design next‐generation high‐performance ZHSC by replacing the zinc foil anode with a (de)intercalation battery‐type anode. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The synthesis of large‐area TiS2 thin films is reported at temperatures as low as 500 °C using a scalable two‐step method of metal film deposition followed by sulfurization in an H2S gas furnace. It is demonstrated that the lowest‐achievable sulfurization temperature depends strongly on the oxygen background during sulfurization. This dependence arises because TiO bonds present a substantial kinetic and thermodynamic barrier to TiS2 formation. Lowering the sulfurization temperature is important to make smooth films, and to enable integration of TiS2 and related transition metal dichalcogenides—including metastable phases and alloys—into device technology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A detailed study of temperature‐dependent phonon properties of exfoliated titanium disulphide (TiS2) nanosheets probed by Raman spectroscopy in the 80‐ to 450‐K temperature range is reported here. The TiS2 Raman mode (Eg, A1g, and Sh) positions exhibit linear shift dependences; however, in contradiction to typical behavior, the Sh mode surprisingly exhibits positive first‐order temperature coefficient (χ=0.0592 cm‐1/K) with increase of the temperature. In addition, the widths of studied peaks typically increase with temperature and peak intensity ratio shows no changes proving that relative phonon population is not affected by temperature. Our findings can be useful for further analysis of phonon properties and determination of thermal conductivity of supported TiS2 thin films for advanced electronics devices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The selective removal of ions by an electrochemical process is a promising approach to enable various water‐treatment applications such as water softening or heavy‐metal removal. Ion intercalation materials have been investigated for their intrinsic ability to prefer one specific ion over others, showing a preference for (small) monovalent ions over multivalent species. In this work, we present a fundamentally different approach: tunable ion selectivity not by modifying the electrode material, but by changing the operational voltage. We used titanium disulfide, which shows distinctly different potentials for the intercalation of different cations and formed binder‐free composite electrodes with carbon nanotubes. Capitalizing on this potential difference, we demonstrated controllable cation selectivity by online monitoring the effluent stream during electrochemical operation by inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry of aqueous 50 m m CsCl and MgCl2. We obtained a molar selectivity of Mg2+ over Cs+ of 31 (strong Mg preference) in the potential range between −396 mV and −220 mV versus Ag/AgCl. By adjusting the operational potential window from −219 mV to +26 mV versus Ag/AgCl, Cs+ was preferred over Mg2+ by 1.7 times (Cs preference). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: 2D titanium disulfide (TiS2) is recently found to have strong light absorption properties from visible to infrared (IR) region. This feature is highly attractive for applications in nonlinear photonics; however, the mechanism of broadband light–matter interaction is yet to be determined and nonlinear photonic devices are not developed. Here, for the first time, the experimental evidence supporting the mechanism of the broadband nonlinear photoresponse in ultrathin TiS2 nanosheets ranging from 400 nm to 1390 nm is reported through laser Z‐scan measurements. High‐performance nonlinear photonic devices operating in the telecommunication band are also demonstrated. A novel saturable absorber (SA) device is successfully fabricated based on a 2D TiS2‐decorated fiber, which exhibits outstanding ultrashort pulse generation performance with pulse duration of ≈1.04 ps centered at 1569.5 nm. Furthermore, as a stable all‐optical thresholding component, the device can effectively attenuate noise and boost the signal‐to‐noise ratio of the pulse from 1.90 to 10.68 dB. The findings indicate that TiS2‐based SA devices can be developed into excellent highly nonlinear photonic devices, which may advance the development of TiS2‐based optical communication technologies in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A new concept of pairing an active material and a mixed conductor is explored as a solid-state battery electrode. By imbedding nano-FeS2 domains into an amorphous LiTiS2 matrix, a hybrid power-energy system is achieved while additionally improving upon many common solid electrode design flaws. High-resolution transmission electron microscopy is used to probe the active material/mixed conductor interface over the course of cycling. Arguably the most beneficial development is enhancement of charge transfer, manifesting in a significantly increased exchange current as captured in a Tafel analysis. By developing a solution to active material isolation and creating a more homogenous electrode design, cycling at a high rate of C/2 for 500 cycles is obtained. Additionally, the electrode can recover full capacity simply by reducing system rate. Capacity recovery implicates a lack of active material isolation, a common problem in solid-state batteries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As the lightest member of transition metal dichalcogenides, 2D titanium disulfide (2D TiS2) nanosheets are attractive for energy storage and conversion. However, reliable and controllable synthesis of single‐ to few‐layered TiS2 nanosheets is challenging due to the strong tendency of stacking and oxidation of ultrathin TiS2 nanosheets. This study reports for the first time the successful conversion of Ti3C2Tx MXene to sandwich‐like ultrathin TiS2 nanosheets confined by N, S co‐doped porous carbon (TiS2@NSC) via an in situ polydopamine‐assisted sulfuration process. When used as a sulfur host in lithium–sulfur batteries, TiS2@NSC shows both high trapping capability for lithium polysulfides (LiPSs), and remarkable electrocatalytic activity for LiPSs reduction and lithium sulfide oxidation. A freestanding sulfur cathode integrating TiS2@NSC with cotton‐derived carbon fibers delivers a high areal capacity of 5.9 mAh cm−2 after 100 cycles at 0.1 C with a low electrolyte/sulfur ratio and a high sulfur loading of 7.7 mg cm−2, placing TiS2@NSC one of the best LiPSs adsorbents and sulfur conversion catalysts reported to date. The developed nanospace‐confined strategy will shed light on the rational design and structural engineering of metal sulfides based nanoarchitectures for diverse applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Li2S is a fully lithiated sulfur‐based cathode with a high theoretical capacity of 1166 mAh g−1 that can be coupled with lithium‐free anodes to develop high‐energy‐density lithium–sulfur batteries. Although various approaches have been pursued to obtain a high‐performance Li2S cathode, there are still formidable challenges with it (e.g., low conductivity, high overpotential, and irreversible polysulfide diffusion) and associated fabrication processes (e.g., insufficient Li2S, excess electrolyte, and low reversible capacity), which have prevented the realization of high electrochemical utilization and stability. Here, a new cathode design composed of a homogeneous Li2S‐TiS2‐electrolyte composite that is prepared by a simple two‐step dry/wet‐mixing process is demonstrated, allowing the liquid electrolyte to wet the powder mixture consisting of insulating Li2S and conductive TiS2. The close‐contact, three‐phase boundary of this system improves the Li2S‐activation efficiency and provides fast redox‐reaction kinetics, enabling the Li2S‐TiS2‐electrolyte cathode to attain stable cyclability at C/7 to C/3 rates, superior long‐term cyclability over 500 cycles, and promising high‐rate performance up to 1C rate. More importantly, this improved performance results from a cell design attaining a high Li2S loading of 6 mg cm−2, a high Li2S content of 75 wt%, and a low electrolyte/Li2S ratio of 6. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]