title: Interface strain in vertically stacked two-dimensional heterostructured carbon-MoS2 nanosheets controls electrochemical reactivity.
abstract: Two-dimensional (2D) materials offer numerous advantages for electrochemical energy storage and conversion due to fast charge transfer kinetics, highly accessible surface area, and tunable electronic and optical properties. Stacking of 2D materials generates heterogeneous interfaces that can modify native chemical and physical material properties. Here, we demonstrate that local strain at a carbon-MoS2 interface in a vertically stacked 2D material directs the pathway for chemical storage in MoS2 on lithium metal insertion. With average measured MoS2 strain of ∼0.1% due to lattice mismatch between the carbon and MoS2 layers, lithium insertion is facilitated by an energy-efficient cation-exchange transformation. This is compared with low-voltage lithium intercalation for unstrained MoS2. This observation implies that mechanical properties of interfaces in heterogeneous 2D materials can be leveraged to direct energetics of chemical processes relevant to a wide range of applications such as electrochemical energy storage and conversion, catalysis and sensing.
authors.affiliation: Department of Mechanical Engineering, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee 37235, USA.|Interdisciplinary Materials Science Program, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee 37235, USA.
authors.forename: Landon
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Oakes
authors.affiliation: Department of Mechanical Engineering, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee 37235, USA.
authors.forename: Rachel
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Carter
authors.affiliation: Department of Mechanical Engineering, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee 37235, USA.
authors.forename: Trevor
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Hanken
authors.affiliation: Department of Mechanical Engineering, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee 37235, USA.
authors.forename: Adam P
authors.initials: AP
authors.lastname: Cohn
authors.affiliation: Department of Mechanical Engineering, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee 37235, USA.|Interdisciplinary Materials Science Program, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee 37235, USA.
authors.forename: Keith
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Share
authors.affiliation: Vanderbilt Institute of Nanoscale Science and Engineering, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee 37235, USA.
authors.forename: Benjamin
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-1504-4984
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Schmidt
authors.affiliation: Department of Mechanical Engineering, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee 37235, USA.|Interdisciplinary Materials Science Program, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee 37235, USA.|Vanderbilt Institute of Nanoscale Science and Engineering, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee 37235, USA.
authors.forename: Cary L
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Pint