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Efficient cationic agents for exfoliating two-dimensional nickel oxide sheets

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Abstract

Two-dimensional catalysis is a very active research area in recent years. Water splitting catalysis may be achieved with the outstanding efficiency of the nickel oxyhydroxide (NiOOH) catalyst. NiOOH is a layered material, which constitutes of partially hydrogenated nickel oxide (NiO2) layers that are stacked together with the possible intercalation of water and electrolyte species. Recently, various studies have reported that NiO single sheets could be prepared and exhibit interesting photocatalytic properties. However, there is a lack of knowledge in developing efficient exfoliation processes adapted to such materials. We investigate with density functional theory the effect of intercalating cations, which is a strategy demonstrated recently to be efficient for exfoliation of various metal oxides. We observed that earth–alkali cations significantly increase the strength and amount of H bonds and inhibit exfoliation. Hence, we conclude that small alkali species are preferable for an exfoliation process of NiOOH.

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Acknowledgements

This research was supported by the Nancy and Stephen Grand Technion Energy Program (GTEP) and the I-CORE Program of the Planning and Budgeting Committee, The Israel Science Foundation (Grant No. 152/11) and the SPIRA Fund for Applied Research in the Field of Energy. In addition, this research was supported by a grant from the Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST), Israel. This work was supported by the post Link-SCEEM-2 project, funded by the European Commission under the 7th Framework Program through the Capacities Research nfrastructure, INFRA-2010-1.2.3 Virtual Research Communities, Combination of Collaborative Project and Coordination and Support Actions (CP-CSA) under Grant Agreement No. RI-261600. J.Z. acknowledges the Israel Ministry of Aliyah and Immigrant Absorption, the Lady Davis and GTEP fellowships.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Technion - Israel Institute of Technology, 3200003, Haifa, Israel

    Jeremie Zaffran, Michael Nagli, Mahran Shehadeh & Maytal Caspary Toroker

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  1. Jeremie Zaffran
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  2. Michael Nagli
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  3. Mahran Shehadeh
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  4. Maytal Caspary Toroker
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Correspondence to Maytal Caspary Toroker.

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Zaffran, J., Nagli, M., Shehadeh, M. et al. Efficient cationic agents for exfoliating two-dimensional nickel oxide sheets. Theor Chem Acc 137, 3 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00214-017-2175-y

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