Pt-Te alloy nanowires towards formic acid electrooxidation reaction

The high-performance anodic electrocatalysts is pivotal for realizing the commercial application of the direct formic acid fuel cells.In this work,a simple polyethyleneimine-assisted galvanic replacement reaction is applied to synthesize the high-quality PtTe alloy nanowires(PtTe NW)by using Te NW as an efficient sacrificial template.The existence of Te atoms separates the continuous Pt atoms,triggering a direct reaction pathway of formic acid electrooxidation reaction(FAEOR)at PtTe NW.The one-dimensional architecture and highly active sites have enabled PtTe NW to reveal outstanding electrocatalytic activity towards FAEOR with the mass/specific activities of 1091.25 mA mg^(-1)/45.34 A m^(-2)at 0.643 V potential,which are 44.72/23.16 and 20.26/11.75 times bigger than those of the commercial Pt and Pd nanoparticles,respectively.Density functional theory calculations reveal that Te atoms optimize the electronic structure of Pt atoms,which decreases the adsorption capacity of CO intermediate and simultaneously improves the durability of PtTe NW towards FAEOR.This work provides the valuable insights into the synthesis and design of efficient Pt-based alloy FAEOR electrocatalysts.

Hydrogen generation from ammonia electrolysis on bifunctional platinum nanocubes electrocatalysts

The ammonia electrolysis is a highly efficient and energy-saving method for ultra-pure hydrogen generation, which highly relies on electrocatalytic performance of electrocatalysts. In this work, high-quality platinum(Pt) nanocubes(Pt-NCs) with 4.5 nm size are achieved by facile hydrothermal synthesis. The physical morphology and structure of Pt-NCs are exhaustively characterized, revealing that Pt-NCs with special {100} facets have excellent uniformity, good dispersity and high crystallinity. Meanwhile, the electrocatalytic performance of Pt-NCs for ammonia electrolysis are carefully investigated in alkaline solutions, which display outstanding electroactivity and stability for both ammonia electrooxidation reaction(AEOR) and hydrogen evolution reaction(HER) in KOH solution. Furthermore, a symmetric Pt-NCs||Pt-NCs ammonia electrolyzer based on bifunctional Pt-NCs electrocatalyst is constructed, which only requires 0.68 V electrolysis voltage for hydrogen generation. Additionally, the symmetric Pt-NCs||Pt-NCs ammonia electrolyzer has excellent reversible switch capability for AEOR at anode and HER at cathode, showing outstanding alternating operation ability for ammonia electrolysis.

Insight into the oxidative desulfurization of high-sulfur petroleum coke under mild conditions:a journey of vanadium-substituted Dawson-type phosphotungstic acid

High-sulfur petroleum coke(HSPC),that is a by-product from slag oil in the coking process of refning,shows versatility values in practical applications and,however,concentrates the majority of organic sulfur.Herein,we design and construct a highly efective CTAB@HPA composites to be explored for the catalytic oxidative desulfurization of HSPC under mild conditions using hydrogen peroxide as the oxidant and 1-butyl-3-methylimidazole tetrafuoroborate ionic liquid as the extractant.The results demonstrate that the sulfur content of HSPC could be strikingly reduced from 4.46 wt%to 2.48 wt%under 60℃ and atmospheric pressure,and that the organic sulfur in HSPC is mainly oxidized to sulfoxide,sulfone and sulfate,which latter can be directly separated from petroleum coke.Moreover,the efect of reaction conditions on the desulfurization performance of HSPC as well as the catalytic oxidation reaction kinetic of HSPC desulfurization was systematically investigated.Furthermore,a mechanism for the oxidative desulfurization of HSPC over CTAB@HPA catalysts was proposed.Therefore,this work provides new insight into how to construct active catalysts for the desulfurization of HSPC under mild conditions.

Au core-PtAu alloy shell nanowires for formic acid electrolysis

Inefficient electrocatalysts and high-power consumption are two thorny problems for electrochemical hydrogen(H2)production from acidic water electrolysis.Herein we report the one-pot precise synthesis of ultrafine Au core-Pt Au alloy shell nanowires(Au@PtxAu UFNWs).Among them,Au@Pt_(0.077) Au UFNWs exhibit the best performance for formic acid oxidation reaction(FAOR)and hydrogen evolution reaction(HER),which only require applied potentials of 0.29 V and-22.6 m V to achieve a current density of 10 m A cm^(-2),respectively.The corresponding formic acid electrolyzer realizes the electrochemical H2 production at a voltage of only 0.51 V with 10 m A cm^(-2) current density.Density functional theory(DFT)calculations reveal that the Au-riched Pt Au alloy structure can facilitates the direct oxidation pathway of FAOR and consequently elevates the FAOR activity of Au@Pt_(0.077) Au UFNWs.This work provides meaningful insights into the electrochemical H_(2) production from both the construction of advanced bifunctional electrocatalysts and the replacement of OER.

Heterostructured Pd/PdO nanowires for selective and efficient CO_(2) electroreduction to CO

Palladium(Pd) nanostructures are highly promising electrocatalysts for the carbon dioxide electrochemical reduction(CO_(2) ER). At present, it is still challenge for the synthesis of Pd nanostructures with high activity, selectivity and stability. In this work, a facile PdII-complex pyrolysis method is applied to synthesize the high-quality one-dimensional heterostructured Pd/Pd O nanowires(Pd/Pd O H-NWs).The as-prepared Pd/Pd O H-NWs have a large electrochemically active surface area, abundant defects and Pd/Pd O heterostructure. Electrochemical measurement results reveal that Pd/Pd O H-NWs exhibit up to 94% CO Faraday efficiency with a current density of 11.6 m A cm^(-2) at an applied potential of -0.8 V. Meanwhile, Pd/Pd O H-NWs can achieve a stable catalytic process of 12 h for CO_(2) ER. Such outstanding CO_(2) ER performance of Pd/Pd O H-NWs has also been verified in the flow cell test. The density functional theory calculations indicate that Pd/Pd O heterostructure can significantly weaken the CO adsorption on Pd sites, which improves the CO tolerance and consequently enhances the catalytic performance of Pd/Pd O H-NWs for CO_(2) ER. This work highlights a facile complex pyrolysis strategy for the synthesis of Pd-based CO_(2) ER catalysts and provides a new application instance of metal/metal oxide heterostructure in electrocatalysis.

Direct growth of holey Fe3O4-coupled Ni(OH)2 sheets on nickel foam for the oxygen evolution reaction

The oxygen evolution reaction(OER)is a half-reaction of water electrolysis,and the OER performance of an electrocatalyst is significantly related to its energy conversion efficiency.Due to their high OER activity,transition metal-based nanomaterials have become potential low-cost substitutes for Ir/Ru-based OER electrocatalysts in an alkaline environment.Herein,holey Fe3O4-coupled Ni(OH)2 sheets(Ni(OH)2-Fe H-STs)were easily achieved by a simple mixed-cyanogel hydrolysis strategy.The two-dimensional(2D)Ni(OH)2-Fe H-STs with ca.1 nm thickness have a high specific surface area,abundant unsaturated coordination atoms,and numerous pores,which are highly favorable for electrocatalytic reactions.Meanwhile,the introduction of Fe improves the conductivity and regulates the electronic structure of Ni.Due to their special structural features and synergistic effect between the Fe and Ni atoms,Ni(OH)2-Fe H-STs with an optimal Ni/Fe ratio show excellent OER activity in a 1 M KOH solution,which significantly exceeds that of the commercial RuO2 nanoparticle electrocatalyst.Furthermore,Ni(OH)2-Fe H-STs can be grown on nickel foam(NF),and the resulting material exhibits enhanced OER activity,such as a small overpotential of 200 mV and a small Tafel slope of 56 mV dec−1,than that of Ni(OH)2-Fe H-STs without NF.

Porous palladium phosphide nanotubes for formic acid electrooxidation

The development of an efficient catalyst for formic acid electrocatalytic oxidation reaction(FAEOR)is of great significance to accelerate the commercial application of direct formic acid fuel cells(DFAFC).Herein,palladium phosphide(PdxPy)porous nanotubes(PNTs)with different phosphide content(i.e.,Pd3P and Pd5P2)are prepared by combining the self-template reduction method of dimethylglyoxime-Pd(II)complex nanorods and succedent phosphating treatment.During the reduction process,the self-removal of the template and the continual inside-outside Ostwald ripening phenomenon are responsible for the generation of the one-dimensional hollow and porous architecture.On the basis of the unique synthetic procedure and structural advantages,Pd3P PNTs with optimized phos phide content show outstanding electroactivity and stability for FAEOR.Im portantly,the strong electronic effect between Pd and P promotes the direct pathway of FAEOR and inhibits the occurrence of the formic acid decomposition reaction,which effectively enhances the FAEOR electroactivity of Pd3P PNTs.In view of the facial synthesis,excellent electroactivity,high stability,and unordinary selectivity,Pd3P PNTs have the potential to be an efficient anode electrocatalyst for DFAFC.

Defect-rich bismuth metallene for efficient CO_(2) electroconversion

1.Introduction Carbon dioxide reduction(CO_(2)RR)technology has attracted much attention in recent years and can effectively decrease the greenhouse effect and simultaneously achieve chemical energy storage[1].In the electrochemical process,a large overpotential is generally required to activate inert CO_(2)molecules,resulting in the inevitable competition reaction from the hydrogen evolution reaction(HER)and consequently decreasing the faradaic efficiency of CO_(2)RR[2,3].Among various reduction products of CO_(2)RR,formate is the most prevalent product with important applications in the energy conversion and chemical industries.Among a host of catalysts that can convert CO_(2)to formate,bismuth(Bi)-based nanomaterials are highly promising electrocatalysts for the conversion of CO_(2)to formate due to their high faradaic efficiency and good stability.However,the preparation method and catalytic activity of Bi-based nanomaterials still need to be further improved for industrial conversion of the CO_(2)RR.

Holey platinum nanotubes for ethanol electrochemical reforming in aqueous solution

The catalytic/electrocatalytic performance of platinum(Pt)nanostructures highly relates to their morphology.Herein,we propose a facile self-template pyrolysis strategy at high temperature to synthesize one-dimensionally holey Pt nanotubes(Pt-hNTs)using Pt^(Ⅱ)-dimethylglyoxime complex(Pt^(Ⅱ)-DMG)nanorods as the reaction precursor.The coordination capability of DMG results in the generation of Pt^(Ⅱ)-DMG nanorods,whereas the reducibility of DMG at high temperature leads to the reduction of Pt^(Ⅱ)species in Pt^(Ⅱ)-DMG nanorods.During the reaction process,the inside-out Ostwald ripening phenomenon leads to the hollow morphology of Pt-hNTs.Benefiting from the physical characteristics of hollow and holey structure,Pt-hNTs with clean surface show superior electroactivity and durability for catalyzing ethanol electrooxidation as well as hydrogen evolution reaction in alkaline media.Under optimized experimental conditions,the constructed symmetric Pt-hNTs||Pt-hNTs ethanol electrolyzer only requires an electrolysis voltage of 0.40 V to achieve the electrochemical hydrogen production,demonstrating a highly energy saving strategy relative to traditional water electrolysis.