Revealing the Role of Electrocatalyst Crystal Structure on Oxygen Evolution Reaction with Nickel as an Example

Establishing a correlation between the crystal structure and electrocatalytic activity is crucial to the rational design of high performance electrocatalysts. In this work, taking the widely investigated nickel (Ni) based nonprecious oxygen evolution reaction (OER) catalyst as an example, for the first time, it is reported that the crystal structure plays a critical role in determining the OER performance. Similar‐sized nickel nanoparticles but in different hexagonal close‐packed phase and face‐centered cubic phase coated with N‐doped carbon shells, noted as hcp‐Ni@NC and fcc‐Ni@NC, are successfully prepared, respectively, in which the N‐coated carbon shell structures were also similar. Surprisingly, a dramatically enhanced OER performance of hcp‐Ni@NC in comparison with fcc‐Ni@NC is observed. The hcp‐Ni@NC only requires 305 mV overpotential to achieve the current density of 10 mA cm^?2, which is 55 mV lower than that of fcc‐Ni@NC, which can be ascribed to the influence of nickel crystal phase on the electron structure of N‐doped carbon shell. This finding will bring new thinking toward the rational design of high performance non‐noble metal electrocatalysts.     

氨硼烷水解制氢催化剂载体的研究进展

氢由于具有高效率和高功率密度而被认为是一种出色的清洁能源。化学储氢材料要求具有高的氢储存量。氨硼烷具有高氢含量(19.6%),且在普通贮存条件下稳定,被认为是有吸引力的储氢材料之一。由于氨硼烷在常温下不易放氢,故放氢催化剂成为氨硼烷放氢研究的核心技术和主要方向。金属催化剂可以显著提高水解放氢速度,是影响氨硼烷水解放氢的关键因素,但是金属颗粒催化剂一般都存在颗粒粒径生长过快、易团聚等缺点。为了解决这一问题,研究者选择不同的载体来分散催化剂,使催化剂金属分散在载体表面,防止团聚和过快增长,从而暴露更多活性位点,使催化氨硼烷放氢速率更快。文章将针对不同催化剂载体对氨硼烷水解的催化效果进行阐述。     

Ultrathin Amorphous Nickel Doped Cobalt Phosphates with Highly Ordered Mesoporous Structures as Efficient Electrocatalyst for Oxygen Evolution Reaction

Herein, the facile preparation of ultrathin (≈3.8 nm in thickness) 2D cobalt phosphate (CoPi) nanoflakes through an oil‐phase method is reported. The obtained nanoflakes are composed of highly ordered mesoporous (≈3.74 nm in diameter) structure and exhibit an amorphous nature. Attractively, when doped with nickel, such 2D mesoporous Ni‐doped CoPi nanoflakes display decent electrocatalytic performances in terms of intrinsic activity, and low kinetic barrier toward the oxygen evolution reaction (OER). Particularly, the optimized 10 at% Ni‐doped CoPi nanoflakes (denoted as Ni10‐CoPi) deliver a low overpotential at 10 mA cm^?2 (320 mV), small Tafel slope (44.5 mV dec^?1), and high stability for OER in 1.0 m KOH solution, which is comparable to the state‐of‐the‐art RuO₂ tested in the same condition (overpotential: 327 mV at 10 mA cm^?2, Tafel slope: 73.7 mV dec^?1). The robust framework coupled with good OER performance enables the 2D mesoporous Ni10‐CoPi nanoflakes to be a promising material for energy conversion applications.     

Nickel Promoted Palladium Nanoparticles for Electrocatalysis of Carbohydrazide Oxidation Reaction

Carbohydrazide is a potential alternative to toxic hydrazine for fuel cell applications to overcome the challenges of storage and transportation of hydrogen. In this work, Ni‐alloyed Pd nanoparticles (NPs) with varied Pd–Ni ratios supported on carbon black (PdNi_x/C) are prepared and their catalytic performance for the carbohydrazide electro‐oxidation reaction is investigated. The catalytic performance of PdNi_x/C NPs is significantly improved in comparison to Pd/C NPs. The current density of PdNi_x/C NPs with optimized Pd–Ni atom ratio can reach 3.26 A mg^?1_metal at a potential of 0.4 V (vs reversible hydrogen electrode), which is an increase of 2.4 times compared to that of Pd/C. The density functional theory calculation indicates the enhanced catalytic activity is caused by the change of adsorption energy of carbohydrazide molecules on the metal surface. It exhibits a volcano relationship between the adsorption energy and the catalytic current density of PdNi_x/C with varied Pd–Ni atom ratios.     

In Situ Coupling of CoP Polyhedrons and Carbon Nanotubes as Highly Efficient Hydrogen Evolution Reaction Electrocatalyst

Hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) from water electrolysis is an attractive technique developed in recent years for cost‐effective clean energy. Although considerable efforts have been paid to create efficient catalysts for HER, the development of an affordable HER catalyst with superior performance under mild conditions is still highly desired. In this work, metal–organic frameworks (MOFs)‐templated strategy is proposed for in situ coupling of cobalt phosphide (CoP) polyhedrons nanoparticles and carbon nanotubes (CNTs). Due to the synergistic catalytic effect between CoP polyhedrons and CNTs, the as‐prepared CoP–CNTs hybrids show excellent HER performance. The resultant CoP–CNTs demonstrate excellent HER activity in 0.5 m H₂SO₄ with Tafel slope of 52 mV dec^?1, small onset overpotential of ≈64 mV, and a low overpotential of ≈139 mV at 10 mA cm^?2. Additionally, the catalyst also manifests superior durability in acid media. Considering the structure diversity of MOFs, the strategy presented here can be extended for synthesizing other well‐defined metal phosphides–CNTs hybrids, which may be used in the fields of catalysis, energy conversion and storage.     

Nickel Nitride Particles Supported on 2D Activated Graphene–Black Phosphorus Heterostructure: An Efficient Electrocatalyst for the Oxygen Evolution Reaction

Hydrogen is regarded as the most promising green clean energy in the 21st century. Developing the highly efficient and low‐cost electrocatalysts for oxygen evolution reaction (OER) is of great concern for the hydrogen industry. In the water electrolyzed reaction, the overpotential and the kinetics are the main hurdles for OER. Therefore, an efficient and durable oxygen evolution reaction electrocatalyst is required. In this study, an activated graphene (AG)–black phosphorus (BP) nanosheets hybrid is fabricated for supporting Ni₃N particles (Ni₃N/BP‐AG) in the application of OER. The Ni₃N particles are combined with the BP‐AG heterostructure via facile mechanical ball milling under argon protection. The synthesized Ni₃N/BP‐AG shows excellent catalytic performance toward the OER, demanding the overpotential of 233 mV for a current density of 10 mA cm^?2 with a Tafel slope of 42 mV dec^?1. The Ni₃N/BP‐AG catalysts also show remarkable stability with a retention rate of the current density of about 86.4% after measuring for 10 000 s in potentiostatic mode.     

RuFe纳米粒子修饰片状BiVO4协同催化氨硼烷水解产氢

开发高效廉价的催化剂对于清洁能源经济至关重要, 将氨硼烷的催化水解用于氢能源开发前景广阔。本工作首先采用简单回流法制备BiVO₄纳米片, 再通过浸渍还原法制备出Ru/Fe不同摩尔比的RuFe@BiVO₄催化剂, 并在室温下用于催化氨硼烷水解产氢。通过比较载体BiVO₄、Ru@BiVO₄、Fe@BiVO₄、RuFe@BiVO₄以及无载体的RuFe纳米粒子的催化产氢速率发现, 在所有的催化剂中, Ru₁Fe_0.1@BiVO₄具有最高的催化活性, 非贵金属Fe能显著增强Ru的催化性能, 这与RuFe之间强的电子效应以及RuFe纳米粒子与载体BiVO₄间的双功能效应密切相关, 其活化能(E_a)为43.7 kJ·mol^-1, 转化频率(TOF)为205.4 mol_H2·mol_Ru·min^-1。     

Interface Metal Oxides Regulating Electronic State around Nickel Species for Efficient Alkaline Hydrogen Electrocatalysis

Heterogeneous electrocatalysis typically depends on the surface electronic states of active sites. Modulating the surface charge state of an electrocatalysts can be employed to improve performance. Among all the investigated materials, nickel (Ni)-based catalysts are the only non-noble-metal-based alternatives for both hydrogen oxidation and evolution reactions (HOR and HER) in alkaline electrolyte, while their activities should be further improved because of the unfavorable hydrogen adsorption behavior. Hereto, Ni with exceptional HOR electrocatalytic performance by changing the d-band center by metal oxides interface coupling formed in situ is endowed. The resultant MoO₂ coupled Ni heterostructures exhibit an apparent HOR activity, even approaching to that of commercial 20% Pt/C benchmark, but with better long-term stability in alkaline electrolyte. An exceptional HER performance is also achieved by the Ni-MoO₂ heterostructures. The experiment results are rationalized by the theoretical calculations, which indicate that coupling MoO₂ with Ni results in the downshift of d-band center of Ni, and thus weakens hydrogen adsorption and benefits for hydroxyl adsorption. This concept is further proved by other metal oxides (e.g., CeO₂, V₂O₃, WO₃, Cr₂O₃)-formed Ni-based heterostructures to engineer efficient hydrogen electrocatalysts.     

氨硼烷低温和室温结构的第一性原理计算

采用第-性原理平面波赝暖势方法研究了两种氨硼烷结构(Pmn21及P42cm)的晶格参数、电子结构以及动力学性质.结果表明,Pmn21结构的能量低于P42cm结构,与实验观测结果相符,即低温相为Pmn21结构而室温相为P42cm结构.Pmn21到P42cm相变所引起的结构变化主要体现为氨硼烷分子间双氢键键长显著增加,而分...     

Tailored Heterojunction Active Sites for Oxygen Electrocatalyst Promotion in Zinc-Air Batteries

Rechargeable zinc-air batteries (ZABs) are promising energy storage systems due to their low-cost and safety. However, the working principle of ZABs is based on oxygen evolution reaction (OER) and oxygen reduction reaction (ORR), which display sluggish kinetic and low stability. Herein, this work proposes a novel method to design a heterogeneous CoP/CoO electrocatalyst on mesopore nanobox carbon/carbon nanotube (CoP/CoO@MNC-CNT) that enriched active sites and synergistic effect. Moreover, the well-defined heterointerfaces could lower the energy barrier for intermediate species adsorption and promote OER and ORR electrochemical performances. The CoP/CoO@MNC-CNT electrocatalyst presents a high half-wave potential of 0.838 V for ORR and a small overpotential of 270 mV for OER. The ZABs-based CoP/CoO@MNC-CNT air-cathode shows an open-circuit voltage of 1.409 V, the long-term cycle life of 500 h with a small voltage difference change of 7.7%. Additionally, the flexible ZABs exhibit highly mechanical stability, demonstrating their application potential in wearable electronic devices.     

High-Activity Fe3C as pH-Universal Electrocatalyst for Boosting Oxygen Reduction Reaction and Zinc-Air Battery

Transition metal catalysts are regarded as one of promising alternatives to replace traditional Pt-based catalysts for oxygen reduction reaction (ORR). In this work, an efficient ORR catalyst is synthesized by confining Fe₃C nanoparticles into N, S co-doped porous carbon nanosheets (Fe₃C/N,S-CNS) via high-temperature pyrolysis, in which 5-sulfosalicylic acid (SSA) demonstrates as an ideal complexing agent for iron (ΙΙΙ) acetylacetonate while g-C₃N₄ behaves as a nitrogen source. The influence of the pyrolysis temperature on the ORR performance is strictly examined in the controlled experiments. The obtained catalyst exhibits excellent ORR performance (E_1/2 = 0.86 V; E_onset = 0.98 V) in alkaline electrolyte, coupled by exhibiting the superior catalytic activity and stability (E_1/2 = 0.83 V, E_onset = 0.95 V) to Pt/C in acidic media. In parallel, its ORR mechanism is carefully illustrated by the density functional theory (DFT) calculations, especially the role of the incorporated Fe₃C played in the catalytic process. The catalyst-assembled Zn-air battery also exhibits a much higher power density (163 mW cm^–2) and ultralong cyclic stability in the charge–discharge test for 750 h with a gap increase down to 20 mV. This study provides some constructive insights for preparation of advanced ORR catalysts in green energy conversion units correlated systems.     

Self-Supported Pd Nanorod Arrays for High-Efficient Nitrate Electroreduction to Ammonia

Electrochemical nitrate (NO₃⁻) reduction to ammonia (NH₃) offers a promising pathway to recover NO₃⁻ pollutants from industrial wastewater that can balance the nitrogen cycle and sustainable green NH₃ production. However, the efficiency of electrocatalytic NO₃⁻ reduction to NH₃ synthesis remains low for most of electrocatalysts due to complex reaction processes and severe hydrogen precipitation reaction. Herein, high performance of nitrate reduction reaction (NO₃⁻RR) is demonstrated on self-supported Pd nanorod arrays in porous nickel framework foam (Pd/NF). It provides a lot of active sites for H* adsorption and NO₃⁻ activation leading to a remarkable NH₃ yield rate of 1.52 mmol cm⁻² h⁻¹ and a Faradaic efficiency of 78% at −1.4 V versus RHE. Notably, it maintains a high NH₃ yield rate over 50 cycles in 25 h showing good stability. Remarkably, large-area Pd/NF electrode (25 cm²) shows a NH₃ yield of 174.25 mg h⁻¹, be promising candidate for large-area device for industrial application. In situ FTIR spectroscopy and density functional theory calculations analysis confirm that the enrichment effect of Pd nanorods encourages the adsorption of H species for ammonia synthesis following a hydrogenation mechanism. This work brings a useful strategy for designing NO₃⁻RR catalysts of nanorod arrays with customizable compositions.     

Nickel-Doped Carbon Dots as an Efficient and Stable Electrocatalyst for Urea Oxidation

Urea is a typical contaminant present in wastewater which may cause severe environmental problems. Electrochemical catalytic oxidation of urea has emerged as an efficient approach to solve this problem. Nevertheless, the current nickel-based catalysts (e.g., nickel hydroxide/sulfides) feature a high metal content. It not only lowers the utilization efficiency of nickel but also causes secondary pollution to the environment. Here, nickel-doped carbon dots (Ni-CDs) with an excellent and stable catalytic activity for the electrocatalytic urea oxidation reaction (UOR) are reported. Specifically, carbon dots (CDs) with abundant functional groups are synthesized by a one-pot hydrothermal method and then Ni-CDs with a very low metal content (1.1 at%) are prepared. The Ni²⁺ sites by coordination with carboxylic groups on the CDs provide excellent electrocatalytic activity and excellent durability for the UOR, as demonstrated by an anodic current density of 100 mA cm⁻² at a potential of 1.38 V (vs RHE) and similar experimental results in practical application. To the best of knowledge, this is the first report of CDs-based materials applied for the UOR, which opens an important new area of applicability for CDs as well as broadens the scope of the materials for electrochemical catalysis of urea.     

Sulfur‐Modified Graphitic Carbon Nitride Nanostructures as an Efficient Electrocatalyst for Water Oxidation

There is an urgent need to develop metal‐free, low cost, durable, and highly efficient catalysts for industrially important oxygen evolution reactions. Inspired by natural geodes, unique melamine nanogeodes are successfully synthesized using hydrothermal process. Sulfur‐modified graphitic carbon nitride (S‐modified g‐CN _x ) electrocatalysts are obtained by annealing these melamine nanogeodes in situ with sulfur. The sulfur modification in the g‐CN _x structure leads to excellent oxygen evolution reaction activity by lowering the overpotential. Compared with the previously reported nonmetallic systems and well‐established metallic catalysts, the S‐modified g‐CN _x nanostructures show superior performance, requiring a lower overpotential (290 mV) to achieve a current density of 10 mA cm^?2 and a Tafel slope of 120 mV dec^?1 with long‐term durability of 91.2% retention for 18 h. These inexpensive, environmentally friendly, and easy‐to‐synthesize catalysts with extraordinary performance will have a high impact in the field of oxygen evolution reaction electrocatalysis.     

High-Performance Bifunctional Porous Iron-Rich Phosphide/Nickel Nitride Heterostructures for Alkaline Seawater Splitting

Seawater is the most abundant natural water resource in the world, which is an inexhaustible and low-cost feedstock for hydrogen production by alkaline water electrolysis. It is appearling to develop robust and stable electrocatalysts for alkaline seawater electrolysis. However, the development of seawater electrolysis is seriously impeded by anodic chloride corrosion and chlorine evolution reaction, and few non-noble electrocatalysts show prominent catalytic performance and excellent durability. Here, a heterogeneous electrocatalyst constructed by in situ growing highly dispersed iron-rich bimetallic phosphide nanoparticles on metallic Ni₃N (Fe_2−2xCo_2xP/Ni₃N), which exhibits outstanding bifunctional catalytic activities for alkaline seawater splitting, is reported. The optimal (Fe_0.74Co_0.26)₂P/Ni₃N and Fe₂P/Ni₃N electrocatalysts demand only 113 and 212 mV to afford 100 mA cm⁻² for hydrogen and oxygen evolution reactions (HER and OER) in 1 m KOH, respectively, thus substantially expediting overall water/seawater electrolysis at 100 mA cm⁻² with 1.592/1.645 V. Particularly, Fe₂P/Ni₃N displays an unprecedented overpotential of 302 mV at 500 mA cm⁻², which represents the best alkaline seawater oxygen evolution activity among the ever-reported non-noble electrocatalysts; and thus substantially expedites overall water/seawater splitting at 500 mA cm⁻² with 1.701/1.768 V, surpassing most of the reported non-noble lectrocatalysts. This work provides a new approach for developing high-performance electrocatalysts for seawater splitting.     

水热合成镍铜复合磷化物及其电催化析氢与肼氧化性能

以镍网(NM, Nickel Mesh)为基体、NaH₂PO₂·H₂O为磷源、CuSO₄·5H₂O为铜源、NiSO₄·6H₂O为镍源, 采用一步水热法合成镍铜磷复合电催化剂, 对制备工艺进行优化, 并通过不同方法进行形貌、结构、组成和电催化性能表征。结果表明：当溶液中镍、铜、磷的配比为8: 1 :20时, 在140 ℃水热合成24 h, 制得主晶相为Ni₂P和Cu₃P、具有三级微纳结构的镍铜磷复合电催化剂。在电流密度为10 mA·cm ^-2时, NiCuP/NM的催化析氢及肼氧化过电势分别为165和49 mV; 在双电极体系中, 同电流密度下的分解槽压仅为0.750 V, 催化24 h后分解槽压几乎保持不变, 展现出优异的催化稳定性。无论三电极体系还是双电极体系均表现出优异的催化活性。分析认为, 电催化活性面积为空白镍网的近14倍, 为电催化过程提供了大量的活性位点; 掺入P改变了Ni、Cu原子的电子结构, 提高了材料的本征肼氧化活性, 两者的协同作用促进了电催化活性的提升。本研究为纳米尺度的合成提供了一个新的视角, 有望推动新型纳米孔结构材料在燃料电池和传感器应用中的发展。     

A Novel Heterostructure Based on RuMo Nanoalloys and N-doped Carbon as an Efficient Electrocatalyst for the Hydrogen Evolution Reaction

Heterostructures exhibit considerable potential in the field of energy conversion due to their excellent interfacial charge states in tuning the electronic properties of different components to promote catalytic activity. However, the rational preparation of heterostructures with highly active heterosurfaces remains a challenge because of the difficulty in component tuning, morphology control, and active site determination. Herein, a novel heterostructure based on a combination of RuMo nanoalloys and hexagonal N-doped carbon nanosheets is designed and synthesized. In this protocol, metal-containing anions and layered double hydroxides are employed to control the components and morphology of heterostructures, respectively. Accordingly, the as-made RuMo-nanoalloys-embedded hexagonal porous carbon nanosheets are promising for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER), resulting in an extremely small overpotential (18 mV), an ultralow Tafel slope (25 mV dec⁻¹), and a high turnover frequency (3.57 H₂ s⁻¹) in alkaline media, outperforming current Ru-based electrocatalysts. First-principle calculations based on typical 2D N-doped carbon/RuMo nanoalloys heterostructures demonstrate that introducing N and Mo atoms into C and Ru lattices, respectively, triggers electron accumulation/depletion regions at the heterosurface and consequently reduces the energy barrier for the HER. This work presents a convenient method for rational fabrication of carbon–metal heterostructures for highly efficient electrocatalysis.