Line defects in monolayer TiSe₂ with adsorption of Pt atoms potentially enable excellent catalytic activity

Two-dimensional (2D) materials with defects are desired for catalysis after the adsorption of monodispersed noble metal atoms. High-performance catalysts with the absolute value of Gibbs free energy (|ΔG_H|) close to zero, is one of the ultimate goals in the catalytic field. Here, we report the formation of monolayer titanium selenide (TiSe₂) with line defects. The low-temperature scanning tunneling microscopy/spectroscopy (STM/S) measurements revealed the structure and electronic states of the line defect. Density functional theory (DFT) calculation results confirmed that the line defects were induced by selenium vacancies and the STM simulation was in good agreement with the experimental results. Further, DFT calculations show that monolayer TiSe₂ with line defects have good catalytic activity for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). If the defects are decorated with single Pt atom, the HER catalytic activity will be enhanced dramatically (|ΔG_H| = 0.006 eV), which is much better than Pt metal (|ΔG_H| = 0.09 eV). Line defects in monolayer TiSe₂/Au(111) provide a wonderful platform for the design of high-performance catalysts.