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Updated: Apr 18, 2026

Fabricating van der Waals Heterostructures with Precise Rotational Alignment
Published on: July 5, 2019
Misfit-layered Bi1.85 Sr2 Co1.85 O7.7-δ for the hydrogen evolution reaction: beyond van der Waals heterostructures
Chun Kiang Chua1, Zdeněk Sofer, Ondřej Jankovský
1Division of Chemistry and Biological Chemistry, School of Physical and Mathematical Science, Nanyang Technological University, 21 Nanyang Link, 637371 (Singapore).
Abstract:
Recent research on stable 2D nanomaterials has led to the discovery of new materials for energy-conversion and energy-storage applications. A class of layered heterostructures known as misfit-layered chalcogenides consists of well-defined atomic layers and has previously been applied as thermoelectric materials for use as high-temperature thermoelectric batteries. The performance of such misfit-layered chalcogenides in electrochemical applications, specifically the hydrogen evolution reaction, is currently unexplored. Herein, a misfit-layered chalcogenide consisting of CoO2 layers interleaved with an SrO-BiO-BiO-SrO rock-salt block and having the formula Bi1.85 Sr2 Co1.85 O7.7-δ is synthesized and examined for its structural and electrochemical properties. The hydrogen-evolution performance of misfit-layered Bi1.85 Sr2 Co1.85 O7.7-δ , which has an overpotential of 589 mV and a Tafel slope of 51 mV per decade, demonstrates the promising potential of misfit-layered chalcogenides as electrocatalysts instead of classical carbon.
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