2D semiconductor transition metal dichalcogenides have attracted considerable attention due to their layered structure, suitable band gap, electrochemically active unsaturated edges and relatively good stability against photocorrosion. These properties result promising for different applications including, Li-ion batteries, photocatalysis and hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). Apart from the widely studied 2D MoS₂, 2D selenide and telluride equivalents, MoSe₂ and MoTe₂, have recently gained considerable interest due to their higher electrical conductivity, wider inter-layer distance and narrower bandgap as compared to MoS₂, high surface area and close to zero Gibbs free energy edges for hydrogen adsorption.

Unlike sulfide dichalcogenides, the lack of Se and Te precursors have prevented the synthesis of selenide and telluride dichalcogenides by ALD. In order to surpass such impediment, we present a set of novel in-house synthesized Se and Te compounds, which were successfully combined with commercial Mo precursor to synthesize MoSe₂ and MoTe₂ by ALD [1-5]. The as-deposited ALD MoSe₂ and MoTe₂ on substrates of different nature were extensively characterized by different techniques, which confirmed the chemical composition and revealed the growth of 2D flaky nano-crystalline MoSe₂ and MoTe₂.

In parallel, MoSe₂ and MoTe₂@TiO₂ nanotube layers (TNTs) heterostructures were fabricated in a simple and fast fashion to explore and exploit the MoSe₂ and MoTe₂ photo- and electrocatalytic properties. TNTs act as excellent photoactive supporting material providing a high surface area, unique directionality for charge separation, and highly effective charge collection.

The presentation will introduce and describe the synthesis of the 2D Mo dichalcogenides, the corresponding physical and electrochemical characterization and encouraging results obtained in HER [4,5], photocatalysis [4-6] and Li-ion batteries [7].

[1] R. Zazpe et al, FlatChem (2020) 21 100166

[2] J. Charvot et al, Chempluschem (2020) 85 576

[3] J. Charvot et al, RSC Adv. (2021) 11 22140

[4] R. Zazpe et al, ACS Appl. Nano Mater. (2021) 3 12 12034

[5] R. Zazpe et al, Appl. Mater. Today (2021) 23 101017

[6] M. Motola et al, Nanoscale (2019) 11 23126

[7] H. Sopha et al FlatChem (2019) 17 100130