Vacancy and bonding engineering of rhenium (Re)-based dichalcogenides materials in photoelectrodes: From design and construction to properties

This work presents a comprehensive summary of recent advances in controllable growth of Re based materials. The focus was on introducing and discussing various structural design strategies, regulations, and structure–activity relationships for the preparation of Re based materials using ethanol ethanol-assisted hydrothermal method. A comprehensive exploration of the physical mechanisms and mechanisms underlying the PEC properties of ReX2 (X: S/Se/Te) materials based on DFT theory and experiments. DFT calculations have confirmed that the regulatory effects of defects and oxygen-coordination bonding engineering on the electronic and optical properties of Re-based dichalcogenides were revealed. Finally, the current challenges and perspectives to synthesize Re based materials are discussed. The research provides a novel strategy for the design and synthesis of (Re)-based VIA group compounds nanomaterials, decodes the carrier dynamics behind the enhancement of PEC activity of photoanodes modified by vacancy engineering, and provides valuable guidance for realizing high-efficiency PEC water oxidation. And which can greatly enrich their applications in nanoelectronics, optoelectronics, and energy environmental devices. [Display omitted] •A facile ethanol-assisted regulation strategy for in-situ growth of VX Re-based VIA group compounds was developed.•DFT investigated the VX introduced by vacancy engineering as a trap state promotes photogenerated carrier separation.•VX regulates the charge decay dynamics of ReX2-n photoanode were analyzed, and revealed the carrier trapping behavior of VX. The development of new photoactive materials is of great practical significance for the construction of high-performance photoanodes to achieve highly efficient photoelectrochemical (PEC) water decomposition. Herein, we develop a facile ethanol-assisted hydrothermal method for in-situ growth of chalcogen vacancy-rich (VX, X: S/Se/Te)ReX2on carbon cloth to construct novel self-supporting ReX2-nphotoanodes. PEC tests coupled with ultrafast transient absorption spectroscopy investigated the mechanism by which VXregulates the charge decay dynamics of ReX2-nphotoanode and revealed the effective trapping behavior of VXon the microsecond scale after being excited by light. ReS2-n, ReSe2-n and ReTe2-n photoanodes achieve high photocurrent densities and the optimization effect of VX engineering on carrier transport has been validated by both DFT calculations and experimental results, wit