摘要
Prussian blue analogues(PBAs) with inherent ordered structures and abundant metal ion sites are widely explored as precursors for various electrochemical applications,including oxygen evolution reaction(OER).Using a range of characterization techniques including Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy(FT-IR),X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy(XPS),X-ray diffraction(XRD) and energy dispersive spectroscopy(EDS),this work discloses the process of replacement of K^(+)by NH4^(+)in the interstitial spaces of the CoFe PBA by a hot aqueous urea solution,which influences the transformation of PBAs under further heat treatment and the OER performance of the deriva tives.After heat treatment at 400℃ under Ar flow,high-resolution transmission electron microscopy(HRTEM) images reveal that CoFe alloy nanoparticles grew on the crystalline cubes of CoFe PBA with K^(+),while CoFe PBA cubes with NH4^(+)become amorphous.Besides,the derivative of CoFe PBA with NH4^(+)(Ar-U-CoFe PBA) performs better than the derivative of CoFe PBA with K^(+)(Ar-CoFe PBA) in OER,registering a lower overpotential of 305 mV at 10 mA cm^(-2),a smaller Tafel slope of 36.1 mV dec^(-1),and better stability over a testing course of 20 h in 1.0 M KOH.A single-cell alkaline electrolyzer,using Ar-U-CoFe PBA and Pt/C for the anodic and cathodic catalyst,respectively,requires an initial cell voltage of 1.66 V to achieve 100 mA cm^(-2)at 80℃,with negligible degradation after100 h.
基金
Financial support from the China Scholarship Council(201806220068,201806650009) to F.D
the Villum Experiment(grant No.35844) to X.X.