Atomically Dispersed Fe-N4 Sites and NiFe-LDH Sub-Nanoclusters as an Excellent Air Cathode for Rechargeable Zinc-Air Batteries

Deciphering the Radial Ligand Effect of Biomimetic Amino Acid toward Stable Alkaline Oxygen Evolution

Mismatched electron and proton transport rates impede the manifestation of effective performance of the electrocatalytic oxygen evolution reaction (OER), thereby limiting its industrial applications. Inspired by the natural protein cluster in PS-II, different organic-inorganic hybrid electrocatalysts were synthesized via a hydrothermal method. p-Toluidine (PT), benzoic acid (BA), and p-aminobenzoic acid (PABA) were successfully intercalated into NiFe-LDH. Compared to the organic molecules containing a single functional group, the coexistence of carboxyl and amino groups served as the electron acceptor and donor, respectively, thereby optimizing the electronic structure and suppressing metal dissolution. The overpotential of the PABA-modified catalyst (NiFe-LDH-PABA) was significantly reduced to 225 mV at 10 mA cm-2, and the Tafel slope was only 38.7 mV dec-1. At a high current density of 500 mA cm-2, the NiFe-LDH-PABA catalyst can work stably in a 1 M KOH solution at 25 °C over 550 h with 96% retention of its initial activity. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations further confirmed that the work offers significant insight into the modulation by organic molecular structure and provides a new paradigm for creating organic-inorganic hybrid OER catalysts.

Deep eutectic Solvents-Assisted synthesis of NiFe-LDHs/Mo2Ti2C3: A bifunctional electrocatalyst for overall electrochemical water splitting in alkaline media

The development of efficient and stable electrocatalysts is crucial for the advancement of green and clean hydrogen energy technologies. In this work, we synthesized a nanocomposite of nickel-iron layered double hydroxide/molybdenum titanium carbide (NiFe-LDHs/Mo2Ti2C3) using a deep eutectic solvent (DESs) by the solvothermal method. The formation of NiFe-LDHs/Mo2Ti2C3 nanocomposite was confirmed by various electron microscopic and spectroscopic techniques. The synthesized nanocomposite was investigated as a bifunctional electrocatalyst for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and oxygen evolution reaction (OER) under the alkaline condition. The NiFe-LDHs/Mo2Ti2C3-based electrodes exhibit small overpotentials of 204 and 306 mV for HER and OER at a current density of 10 mA cm-2. The anchor of NiFe-LDHs on the surface of Mo2Ti2C3 induces an interfacial synergistic effect, leading to a significantly improvement in electrochemical performance. Remarkably, the proposed NiFe-LDHs/Mo2Ti2C3 modified electrode demonstrates superior performance compared to many recently reported LDHs and MXenes-based electrocatalysts in an alkaline environment. Furthermore, a symmetrical two-electrode water splitting setup employing the NiFe-LDHs/Mo2Ti2C3 electrocatalyst requires an electrolysis voltage of 1.65 V to achieve a current density of 10 mA cm-2. The findings provide a new perspective on the rational design and synthesis of multifunctional electrocatalysts for electrochemical applications.

Fragmented Polymetric Carbon Nitride with Rich Defects for Boosting Electrochemical Synthesis of Hydrogen Peroxide in Alkaline and Neutral Media

Electrocatalytic oxygen reduction reaction via 2e- pathway is a safe and friendly route for hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) synthesis. In order to achieve efficient synthesis of H2O2, it is essential to accurately control the active sites. Here, fragmented polymetric carbon nitride with rich defects (DCN) is designed for H2O2 electrosynthesis. The multi-type defects, including the sodium atom doping in six-fold cavities, the boron atom doping at N-B-N sites and the cyano groups, are successfully created. Owing to the synergistic effect of these defects, the fragmented DCN achieves a high H2O2 production rate of 2.28 mol gcat. -1 h-1 and a high Faradic efficiency of nearly 90 % in alkaline media at 0.4 V vs. RHE in H-type cell. In neutral media, the H2O2 concentration produced by DCN can reach 1815 μM within 6 h at a potential of 0.2 V vs. RHE, and the H2O2 production rate of DCN is 0.23 mol gcat. -1 h-1. In addition, DCN shows excellent long-term durability in alkaline and neutral media. This study provides a new approach for the development of the boron, nitrogen doped carbon-based electrocatalysts for H2O2 electrochemical synthesis.

Cluster Engineering in Water Catalytic Reactions: Synthesis, Structure-Activity Relationship and Mechanism

Four fundamental reactions are essential to harnessing energy from water sustainably: oxidation reduction reaction (ORR), oxygen reduction reaction (OER), hydrogen oxidation reaction (HOR), and hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). This review summarizes the research advancements in the electrocatalytic reaction of metal nanoclusters for water splitting. It covers various types of nanoclusters, particularly those at the size level, that enhance these catalytic reactions. The synthesis of cluster-based catalysts and the elucidation of the structure-activity relationships and reaction mechanisms are discussed. Emphasis is placed on utilizing atomically precise cluster materials and the interplay between the carrier and cluster in water catalysis, especially for applying catalytic engineering principles (such as synergy, coordination, heterointerface, and lattice strain engineering) to understand structure-activity relationships and catalytic mechanisms for cluster-based catalysts. Finally, the field of cluster water catalysis is summarized and prospected. We believe that developing cluster-based catalysts with high activity, excellent stability, and high selectivity will significantly promote the development of renewable energy conversion reactions.

Rational design of Fe, N co-doped porous carbon derived from conjugated microporous polymer as an electrocatalytic platform for oxygen reduction reaction

Porous iron-nitrogen-doped carbons (FeNC) offer a great platform for construction of cathodic oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) catalysts in fuel cells. However, challenges still remain regarding with the collapse of carbon-skeleton during pyrolysis, uneven distribution of active sites and aggregation of metal atoms. In this work, we synthesized Fe, N co-doped conjugated microporous polymer (FeN-CMP) through a facile bottom-up strategy using 1,3,5-triethynylbenzene and iron-chelated 3,8-dibromo-1,10-phenanthroline as monomers, ensuring the uniform coordination of N with Fe element in network. Then, the resulting FeN-CMP was treated by pyrolysis without structural collapse to obtain porous FeNC electrocatalyst for ORR. The most active catalyst was fabricated under 900 °C, which exhibits remarkable ORR activity in alkaline medium with half-wave potential of 0.796 V (18 mV and 105 mV positive deviation from the commercial Pt/C catalyst and post-doping catalyst), high selectivity with nearly 4e- transfer process and excellent methanol tolerance. Our study first developed porous FeNC electrocatalysts derived from Fe, N-anchoring CMPs based on pre-functionalization of monomers, which exhibits great potential as an alternative to commercial Pt/C catalyst for ORR, and provides a feasible strategy of developing multi-atoms doping catalysts for energy storage and conversion as well as heterogeneous catalysis.

Multiscale nanoengineering fabrication of air electrode catalysts in rechargeable Zn-air batteries

The development of cost-effective, high-activity and stable catalysts to accelerate the sluggish kinetics of cathodic oxygen reduction/evolution reactions (ORR/OER) plays a critical part in commercialization application of rechargeable Zn-air batteries (RZABs). Herein, a multiscale nanoengineering strategy is developed to simultaneously stabilize Co-doped Fe nanoparticles originated from metal-organic framework-derived approach and atomic Fe/Co sites derived from metal nanoparticle-atomized way on N-doped hierarchically tubular porous carbon substrate. Thereinto, metal nanoparticles and single atoms are respectively used to expedite the OER and ORR. Consequently, the final material is acted as an oxygen electrode catalyst, displaying 0.684 V of OER/ORR potential gap, 260 mW cm-2 of peak power density for liquid-state RZAB, 110 mW cm-2 of peak power density for solid-state RZAB, and 1000 charge-discharge cycles without decay, which confirms great potential for energy storage and conversion applications.

"Polyoxometalate electron sponge" induces the accurate regulation of electron states at Ni sites to enhance oxidation of water

Because of their special features, NiFe-LDHs (nickel iron layered double hydroxides) are prospective OER (oxygen evolution reaction) catalysts that might be utilized to catalyse the electrolysis of water and produce hydrogen to address the energy crisis. In this work, the electronic structure and electrocatalytic performance of the NiFe-LDH were accurately regulated by optimizing the Ni sites, which was enabled by adjacent metal sites coordinated with the "polyoxometalate electron sponge". With extension of the modification time, the Ni 2p binding energy, the Ni3+/Ni2+ ratio and the OER properties were gradually tuned, which indicated accurate regulation of active Ni sites by the "polyoxometalate electron sponge" on a temporal scale. Additionally, NiFe-LDH-PW12-12 h (NiFe-LDH modified by polyoxometalate anions for 12 h) showed the highest OER performance along with fast electron transfer, superior reaction kinetics and electrochemical durability, with an overpotential ∼68 mV lower than that of NiFe-LDH. This work provides an accurate strategy for regulating the electronic structures of active metal sites for the OER.

Ligand leaching enabling improved electrocatalytic oxygen evolution performance

Design and fabrication of cost-effective (pre-)catalysts are important for water splitting and metal-air batteries. In this direction, various metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) have been investigated as pre-catalysts for oxygen evolution. However, the activation process and the complex reconstruction behaviour of these MOFs are not well understood. Herein, square-like MOF nanosheets in which carbon nanotubes were embedded were prepared by introducing an amine ligand to coordinate with Ni ions and then reacting with [Fe(CN)₆]^3-. The formed MOF nanosheets containing nickel and iron species were then activated by NaBH₄, inducing the leaching of ligands and the formation of tiny active species in situ loaded on carbon nanotubes. The prepared catalyst shows superior oxygen evolution performance with an ultralow overpotential of 231 mV for 10 mA cm^-2, a fast reaction kinetics with a small Tafel slope of 52.3 mV dec^-1, and outstanding catalysis stability. The excellent electrocatalytic performance for oxygen evolution can be attributed to the structural advantage of in situ derived small sized active species and one-dimensional conductive networks. This work provides a new thought for the enhancement of the electrocatalytic performance of MOF materials.

Unveiling the Effect of Organic Sulfur Sources on Synthesized MoS2 Phases and Electrocatalytic Hydrogen Evolution Performances

Metallic-phase MoS₂ exhibits Pt-comparable electrocatalytic hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) performance in acidic conditions. However, the controllable synthesis of metallic-phase MoS₂ is quite challenging because the key factor determining the phase types of MoS₂ during synthesis is still unclear. Herein, the effect of organic sulfur sources on the formed MoS₂ phase is studied by use of thioacetamide (TAA), l-cysteine, and thiourea as sulfur sources. The TAA and l-cysteine produce metallic MoS₂, while thiourea gives rise to semiconducting MoS₂. Owing to the metallic phase and smaller size, the MoS₂ prepared with TAA and l-cysteine has a higher electrocatalytic HER activity than the MoS₂ obtained from thiourea. The HER overpotential of MoS₂ synthesized with TAA is only 210 mV for reaching the current density of 10 mA/cm², and the corresponding Tafel slope is 44 mV/decade. Further studies find that the decomposition temperature of sulfur precursors is the key factor for the formation of metallic MoS₂. Sulfur precursors with a lower decomposition temperature release sulfur ions quickly, which in turn stabilize the metallic phase and inhibit the growth of MoS₂ into large sizes. Our findings unveil the key factor for controlling the phase type of MoS₂ synthesized from organic sulfur precursors and will be very helpful for the synthesis of MoS₂ with high electrocatalytic activity.