Structure-catalytic functionality of size-facet-performance in pentlandite nanoparticles

As one of the pentlandites,Fe5Ni4S8(FNS) based materials have attracted increasing attention due to their excellent catalytic properties and promising applicability.The control over the catalyst surface structure often benefits its heterogeneous catalytic activity.However,this has not been investigated for FNS materials at the nanoscale regarding the catalytic activity related to high-index facets.Herein,FNS nanoparticles(FNSNPs) with enclosed continuous tunable high-index facets were prepared and studied to clarify the relationship between the structure and catalytic functionality.The results suggested strong dependence between exposed facets of FNSNPs and their sizes.The decline in the average size to5.8 nm led to enclosing by high-index facets(422) and(511) to yield optimal electrocatalytic activities toward the hydrogen evolution reaction.The catalytic activity of FNSNPs was closely related to the surface energy of the main exposed facets.These findings clarified the relationship between high-index-facet and high-surface-energy FNSNPs,as promising approaches in crystal surface control engineering.

Enhanced reconstruction of Fe_(5)Ni_(4)S_(8) by implanting pyrrolidone to unlock efficient oxygen evolution

During oxygen evolution reaction(OER),complex changes have been reported on surfaces of bimetallic Fe-Ni-based catalysts,and regulating the dynamic evolution could improve their electrocatalytic performances.Herein,a pyrrolidone-promoted reconstruction of pentlandite was investigated to uncover the correlation between the reconstructed surface and the OER performance.The theoretical calculations indicated the preferential implantation of pyrrolidone at Fe atoms,useful for regulating the electronic structures of pentlandite.The vale nce state of Ni increased,suggesting the promotion of the in-situ reconstruction of pentlandite via strengthening hydroxyl adsorption to generate highly active NiOOH.The electron-rich pentlandite was also found conducive to charge transfer under applied voltages.The Operando Raman and various quasi-in-situ characterizations confirmed the realization of more delocalized electronic structures of pentlandite by introducing pyrrolidone.This,in turn,promoted the accumulation of hydroxyl groups on the pentlandite surface,thereby boosting the formation of highly active NiOOH at lower OER potentials.Consequently,the adsorption energies of intermediates were optimized,conducive to enhanced OER reaction kinetics.As a proof of concept,the pentlandite decorated by pyrrolidone exhibited an overpotential as low as 265 mV at 10 mA cm^(-2) coupled with stable catalysis for 1000 hours at a high current density of 100 mA cm^(-2).In sum,new insights into unlocking the high catalytic activity of bimetallic Fe-Ni-based catalysts were provided,promising for future synthesis of advanced catalysts.

具有高效析氧催化性能的铁基双元金属有机框架纳米棒研究

析氧反应(OER)是电解水制氢的关键步骤,开发高效、稳定、廉价的OER电催化剂是目前该领域的研究热点.碱性电解液中的OER电催化剂成分以Mn、Fe、Co、Ni等为主,其中单一组分的Fe基化合物催化活性不高,但碱性电解液中的痕量铁杂质极易掺入Ni、Co等非Fe基材料的结构中,极大影响其OER催化性能,即现有大部分非Fe基化合物无法回避Fe的影响.为探究Fe基多金属电催化剂的活性规律,本文以结构清晰、组分可控的Fe基金属有机框架材料为基底,通过掺入Mn、Co、Ni等元素构建双元金属化合物Fe2M-MIL-88B(M=Mn,Co,Ni),并围绕上述Fe基双金属电催化剂的构效关系展开研究.扫描电镜、透射电镜、X射线衍射光谱、红外光谱等表征结果表明,所制备的Fe基双金属材料均为具有MIL-88B构型的纳米棒,其特征三核金属簇Fe_(3)O中的一个铁原子被第二元金属所替代,从而形成相应的三核混合金属簇Fe_(2)MO.上述Fe基双金属催化剂的析氧催化活性顺序为:Fe2Ni>Fe_(2)Co>Fe_(2)Mn>Fe(0.1 M KOH电解液).其中,Fe_(2)Ni-MIL-88B电催化剂在10 mA cm^(-2)析氧电流对应的过电位仅需307 mV,明显低于OER基准电催化剂20 wt%Ir/C(376 mV).结合材料的元素组成、电化学活性比表面积(ECSA)及金属价态分析发现,第二元金属的引入会在不同程度上降低Fe的价态,其中Ni的影响程度最大,Co次之,Mn的影响最小.借助分子轨道理论对上述实验现象进行了解释.处于低自旋态的Ni^(2+)与邻近桥氧O^(2-)之间存在电子排斥作用,因此部分电子将从Ni^(2+)经O^(2-)转移至高自旋态的Fe^(3+),从而在Ni^(2+)和Fe^(3+)之间形成了较强的电子耦合作用.Co^(2+)具有和Ni^(2+)相似的构型,但影响稍小.而Mn^(2+)和Fe^(3+)同为高自旋态,对Fe^(3+)的电子结构影响最小,导致活性改善程度最低.密度泛函理论计算得到的自旋态变化情况印证了上述推测.该系列Fe基双金属材料的催化性能主要受金属活性位点的电子结构影响,Fe与邻近金属间形成的电子耦合作用修饰了金属活性位点的电子结构,从而提高了材料的OER本征催化活性.

Revealing the Intrinsic Peroxidase-Like Catalytic Mechanism of Heterogeneous Single-Atom Co-MoS2

The single-atom nanozyme is a new concept and has tremendous prospects to become a next-generation nanozyme.However,few studies have been carried out to elucidate the intrinsic mechanisms for both the single atoms and the supports in single-atom nanozymes.Herein,the heterogeneous single-atom Co-MoS2(SA Co-MoS2)is demonstrated to have excellent potential as a high-performance peroxidase mimic.Because of the well-defined structure of SA Co-MoS2,its peroxidase-like mechanism is extensively interpreted through experimental and theoretical studies.Due to the different adsorption energies of substrates on different parts of SA Co-MoS2 in the peroxidase-like reaction,SA Co favors electron transfer mechanisms,while MoS2 relies on Fenton-like reactions.The different catalytic pathways provide an intrinsic understanding of the remarkable performance of SA Co-MoS2.The present study not only develops a new kind of single-atom catalyst(SAC)as an elegant platform for understanding the enzyme-like activities of heterogeneous nanomaterials but also facilitates the novel application of SACs in biocatalysis.

Unlock the potential of Li4Ti5O(12) for high-voltage/long-cycling-life and high-safety batteries: Dual-ion architecture superior to lithium-ion storage

Li4Ti5O(12)(LTO)has drawn great attention due to its safety and stability in lithium-ion batteries(LIBs).However,high potential plateau at 1.5 V vs.Li reduces the cell voltage,leading to a limited use of LTO.Dual-ion batteries(DIBs)can achieve high working voltage due to high intercalation potential of cathode.Herein,we propose a DIB configuration in which LTO is used as anode and the working voltage was 3.5 V.This DIB achieves a maximum specific energy of 140 Wh/kg at a specific power of 35 W/kg,and the specific power of 2933 W/kg can be obtained with a remaining specific energy of 11 Wh/kg.Traditional LIB material shows greatly improved properties in the DIB configuration.Thus,reversing its disadvantage leads to upgraded performance of batteries.Our configuration has also widened the horizon of materials for DIBs.

Solid phase microwave-assisted fabrication of Fe-doped ZIF-8 for single-atom Fe-N-C electrocatalysts on oxygen reduction

Fe-N-C endowed with inexpensiveness,high activity,and excellent anti-poisoning power have emerged as promising candidate catalysts for oxygen reduction reaction(ORR).Single-atom Fe-N-C electrocatalysts derived from Fe-doped ZIF-8 represent the top-level ORR performance.However,the current fabrication of Fe-doped ZIF-8 relies on heavy consumption of time,energy,cost and organic solvents.Herein,we develop a rapid and solvent-free method to produce Fe-doped ZIF-8 under microwave irradiation,which can be easily amplified in combination with ball-milling.After rational pyrolysis,Fe-N-C catalysts with atomic FeN4 sites well dispersed on the hierarchically porous carbon matrix are obtained,which exhibit exceptional ORR performance with a half-wave potential of 0.782 V(vs.reversible hydrogen electrode(RHE))and brilliant methanol tolerance.The assembled direct methanol fuel cells(DMFCs)endow a peak power density of 61 mW cm^(-2) and extraordinary stability,highlighting the application perspective of this strategy.

Platinum in-situ catalytic oleylamine combustion removal process for carbon supported platinum nanoparticles

Colloidal synthesis method such as oleylamine(OAm)-stabilized process is of great interest for obtaining uniform and highly dispersed platinum nanoparticle catalysts, yet the ligand may unavoidably inhibit their electro-catalytic performance. Thus, fully removing these ligands is critical to activate catalyst surface. Previous research of OAm removal process pointed that thermal annealing was the most effective way in comparison with other methods such as chemical washing, UV–Ozone irradiation and cyclic voltammetry sweeping, but generally resulting in undesired growth of platinum nanoparticle. Few studies concerning a more efficient ligand removal process have been published yet. In this work we proposed a platinum in-situ catalytic OAm combustion strategy to elucidate the removal mechanism of OAm ligands in thermal process and the key experimental parameters were also optimized. In addition, heat flow signal based on differential scanning calorimetry(DSC) measurement as a sensitive indicator, is suggested to reveal the ligand removal efficiency, which is much more reliable than the traditional spectroscopy.In comparison with commercial Pt/C sample, such a surface clean Pt/C electrocatalyst has shown an enhanced specific activity for oxygen reduction reaction. Our removal strategy and the evaluation method are highly instructive to efficient removal of different organic ligands.

Exploring the role of iron in Fe_(5)Ni_(4)S_(8)toward oxygen evolution through modulation of electronic orbital occupancy

Ni-Fe-based catalysts are considered to be among the most active catalysts for the oxygen evolution reaction(OER)under alkaline conditions,with Fe playing a crucial role.However,Fe leaching occurs during the reaction due to thermodynamic instability,which has resulted in conflicting reports within the literature regarding its role.To clarify this point,we propose a strategy consisting of modulating the electronic orbital occupancy to suppress the extensive loss of Fe atoms during the OER process.Theoretical calculations,in-situ X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy,molecular dynamics simulations,and a series of characterization showed that the stable presence of Fe not only accelerates the electron transfer process but also optimizes the reaction barriers of the oxygen evolution intermediates,promoting the phase transition of Fe_(5)Ni_(4)S_(8)to highly active catalytic species.The modulated Fe_(5)Ni_(4)S_(8)-based pre-catalysts exhibit improved OER activity and long-term durability.This study provides a novel perspective for understanding the role of Fe in the OER process.