Potassium-stabilized metastable carbides and chalcogenides via surface chemical potential modulation

Potassium-stabilized metastable carbides and chalcogenides via surface chemical potential modulation | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article Potassium-stabilized metastable carbides and chalcogenides via surface chemical potential modulation Bin Zhang, Fanpeng Chen, Chuanqi Cheng, Jiajun Wang, Yanran Han, and 1 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-4770508/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Published Journal Publication published 24 Apr, 2025 Read the published version in Nature Communications → Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Metastable carbides and chalcogenides are attractive candidates for wide and promising applications. However, their inherent instability leads to synthetic difficulty and poor durability. Thus, the development of facile strategies for the controllable synthesis and stabilization of metastable carbides is still a great challenge. Here, taking metastable ɛ-Fe2C as a case study, potassium ions (K+) are theoretically predicted and experimentally reported to control the synthesis of metastable ɛ-Fe2C from an Fe2N precursor by increasing the surface carbon chemical potential (μC). A series of operando characterizations and calculations reveal that the controllable synthesis and improved stability are attributed to the better-matched denitriding and carburizing rates and the impeded spillover of carbon atoms in metastable ɛ-Fe2C with high carbon contents due to the enhanced surface μC. In addition, this K+-induced surface chemical potential modulation strategy can be used to synthesize metastable γ’-MoC, MoN, 1T-MoS2, 1T-MoSe2, 1T-MoSe2xTe2(1-x), and 1T-Mo1-xWxSe2, highlighting the universality of the methodology. Impressively, gram-level scalable metastable ɛ-Fe2C remains stable for more than 398 days in air. Furthermore, ɛ-Fe2C exhibits remarkable olefin selectivity and durability for more than 36 h of continuous testing. This work not only reports a facile, easily scalable and general strategy for accessing various metastable carbides and chalcogenides but also addresses the synthetic difficulty and poor durability challenge of metastable materials. Physical sciences/Chemistry/Chemical synthesis/Catalyst synthesis Physical sciences/Chemistry/Process chemistry Physical sciences/Materials science/Materials for energy and catalysis Physical sciences/Materials science/Nanoscale materials/Two-dimensional materials Full Text Additional Declarations There is NO Competing Interest. Supplementary Files SupportingInformation.pdf Cite Share Download PDF Status: Published Journal Publication published 24 Apr, 2025 Read the published version in Nature Communications → Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-4770508","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":366000799,"identity":"3b9dc310-56a3-4fa8-88e4-abf2626c51f1","order_by":0,"name":"Bin 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