Enhancing the stability of Ni Fe-layered double hydroxide nanosheet array for alkaline seawater oxidation by Ce doping

Electrocatalytic hydrogen production from seawater holds enormous promise for clean energy generation.Nevertheless,the direct electrolysis of seawater encounters significant challenges due to poor anodic stability caused by detrimental chlorine chemistry.Herein,we present our recent discovery that the incorporation of Ce into Ni Fe layered double hydroxide nanosheet array on Ni foam(Ce-Ni Fe LDH/NF)emerges as a robust electrocatalyst for seawater oxidation.During the seawater oxidation process,CeO_(2)is generated,effectively repelling Cl^(-)and inhibiting the formation of Cl O-,resulting in a notable enhancement in the oxidation activity and stability of alkaline seawater.The prepared Ce-Ni Fe LDH/NF requires only overpotential of 390 m V to achieve the current density of 1 A cm^(-2),while maintaining long-term stability for 500 h,outperforming the performance of Ni Fe LDH/NF(430 m V,150 h)by a significant margin.This study highlights the effectiveness of a Ce-doping strategy in augmenting the activity and stability of materials based on Ni Fe LDH in seawater electrolysis for oxygen evolution.

High efficient catalytic oxidation of 5-hydroxymethylfurfural into 2,5-furandicarboxylic acid under benign conditions with nitrogen-doped graphene encapsulated Cu nanoparticles

Selective oxidation of 5-hydroxymethylfurfual(HMF) to 2,5-furandicarboxylic acid(FDCA) as a bioplastics monomer is efficiently promoted by a simple system without noble-metal and base additives. In this work, graphene oxide(GO) was first synthesised by an electrochemical method with flexible graphite paper(FGP) as start carbon material, then, nitrogen-doped graphene(NG) layers encapsulated Cu nanoparticles(NPs) was prepared by one-step thermal treatment of GO supported Cu2+ in flowing NH3 atmosphere. Compared with NG supported Cu NPs prepared by the traditional impregnation method, enhanced catalytic activity was achieved over Cu/NG and an FDCA yield of 95.2% was achieved under mild reaction conditions with tert-butylhydroperoxide(t-BuOOH) as the oxidant. Control experiments with different catalysts and different addition procedure of t-BuOOH showed the yield of HMF and various intermediates during reaction. From the changing of intermediates concentrations and reaction rates, a reaction pathway through HMF-DFF-FFCA-FDCA was proposed. This work gives a more convenient, more green,more economical and effective method in encapsulated metal NPs preparation and high selectivity in HMF oxidation to FDCA under mild conditions.

An amorphous FeMoO_(4) nanorod array enabled high-efficiency oxygen evolution electrocatalysis in alkaline seawater

The development of highly efficient and durable oxygen evolution reaction(OER)catalysts for seawater electrolysis is of great importance for applications.Here,an amorphous FeMoO_(4) nanorod array on Ni foam is reported as a highly active OER electrocatalyst in alkaline seawater,requiring only overpotentials of 303 and 332 mV to achieve 100 and 300 mA·cm^(-2),respectively.Moreover,it shows strong long-term electrochemical durability for at least 50 h.

Surface-derived phosphate layer on NiFe-layered double hydroxide realizes stable seawater oxidation at the current density of 1 A·cm^(−2)

Seawater electrolysis,especially in coastlines,is widely considered as a sustainable way of making clean and high-purity H2 from renewable energy;however,the practical viability is challenged severely by the limited anode durability resulting from side reactions of chlorine species.Herein,we report an effective Cl^(−) blocking barrier of NiFe-layer double hydroxide(NiFe-LDH)to harmful chlorine chemistry during alkaline seawater oxidation(ASO),a pre-formed surface-derived NiFe-phosphate(Pi)outerlayer.Specifically,the PO_(4)^(3−)-enriched outer-layer is capable of physically and electrostatically inhibiting Cl−adsorption,which protects active Ni^(3+)sites during ASO.The NiFe-LDH with the NiFe-Pi outer-layer(NiFe-LDH@NiFe-Pi)exhibits higher current densities(j)and lower overpotentials to afford 1 A·cm^(−2)(η1000 of 370 mV versusη1000 of 420 mV)than the NiFe-LDH in 1 M KOH+seawater.Notably,the NiFe-LDH@NiFe-Pi also demonstrates longer-term electrochemical durability than NiFe-LDH,attaining 100-h duration at the j of 1 A·cm^(−2).Additionally,the importance of surface-derived PO_(4)^(3−)-enriched outer-layer in protecting the active centers,γ-NiOOH,is explained by ex situ characterizations and in situ electrochemical spectroscopic studies.