Graphene-nickel nitride hybrids supporting palladium nanoparticles for enhanced ethanol electrooxidation

Electrocatalysts for ethanol oxidation reaction(EOR)are generally limited by their poor durability because of the catalyst poisoning induced by the reaction intermediate carbon monoxide(CO).Therefore,the rapid oxidation removal of CO intermediates is crucial to the durability of EOR-based catalysts.Herein,in order to effectively avoiding the catalyst CO poisoning and improve the durability,the graphene-nickel nitride hybrids(AG-Ni_(3)N)were designed for supporting palladium nanoparticles(Pd/AG-Ni_(3)N)and then used for ethanol electrooxidation.The density functional theory(DFT)calculations demonstrated the introduction of AG-Ni_(3)N depresses the CO absorption and simultaneously promotes the adsorption of OH species for CO oxidation removal.The fabricated Pd/AG-Ni_(3)N catalyst distinctively exhibits excellent electroactivity with the mass catalytic activity of 3499.5 m A mg^(-1) on EOR in alkaline media,which is around 5.24 times higher than Pd/C(commercial catalyst).Notably,the Pd/AG-Ni_(3)N hybrids display excellent stability and durability after chronoamperometric measurements with a total operation time of 150,000 s.

Mg-induced g-C_(3)N_(4) synthesis of nitrogen-doped graphitic carbon for effective activation of peroxymonosulfate to degrade organic contaminants

The nitrogen-doped carbon derived from graphitic carbon nitride(g-C_(3)N_(4))has been widely deployed in activating peroxymonosulfate(PMS)to remove organic pollutants.However,the instability of g-C_(3)N_(4)at high temperature brings challenges to the preparation of materials.The nitrogen-doped graphitic carbon nanosheets(N-GC750)were synthesized by magnesium thermal denitrification.Magnesium undergoes the displacement reaction with small molecules produced by the pyrolysis of g-C_(3)N_(4),thereby effectively fixing carbon on the in-situ template of Mg_(3)N_(2)and avoiding direct product volatilization.N-GC750 exhibited excellent performance during the PMS activation process and bisphenol A(BPA,0.2 g/L)could be thoroughly removed in 30 min.A wide range of pH(3–11),temperature(10–40℃)and common anions were employed in studying the impact on system.Additionally,N-GC750 showed satisfactory reusability in cycle tests and promising applicability in real water samples.Quenching experiments and electron paramagnetic resonance(EPR)measurements indicated that singlet oxygen was the main active species coupled with partial electron transfer in N-GC750/PMS system.Furtherly,the oxidation products were identified,and their ecotoxicity was evaluated.This work is expected to provide a reference for the feasibility of preparing g-C_(3)N_(4)derived carbon materials and meaningful for PMS activation.

Rational design of a hollow porous structure for enhancing diffusion kinetics of K ions in edge-nitrogen doped carbon nanorods

The high electrical conductivity makes it possible for one-dimensional(1D)carbon materials to be used as the promising anodes for potassium ion batteries(PIBs),however,the sluggish diffusion kinetics caused by large-sized potassium ions(K^(+))limits their practical applications in energy storage systems.In this work,hollow carbon nanorods were rationally designed as a case to verify the superiority of 1D hollow structure to improve the diffusion kinetics of K^(+).Simultaneously,edge-N(pyridinic-N and pyrrolic-N)atoms were also introduced into 1D hollow carbon structure,which can provide ample active sites and defects in graphitic lattices to adsorb K^(+),providing extra capacitive storage capacity.As expected,the optimized edge-N doped hollow carbon nanorods(ENHCRs)exhibits a high reversible capacity of 544 mAh·g^(−1)at 0.1 A·g^(−1)after 200 cycles.Even at 5 A·g^(−1),it displays a long-term cycling stability with 255 mAh·g^(−1)over 10,000 cycles.The electrochemical measurements confirm that the hollow structure is favorable to improve the transfer kinetics of K^(+)during cycling.And the theoretical calculations demonstrate that edge-N doping can enhance the local electronegativity of graphitic lattices to adsorb much more K^(+),where edge-N doping synergizes with 1D hollow structure to achieve enhanced K^(+)-storage performances.

Mn-doped perovskite-type oxide LaFeO3 as highly active and durable bifunctional electrocatalysts for oxygen electrode reactions

Perovskite oxides based on the alkaline earth metal lanthanum for oxygen reduction reaction(ORR)and oxygen evolution reaction(OER)in alkaline electrolytes are promising catalysts,but their catalytic activity and stability remain unsatisfactory.Here,we synthesized a series of LaFe1-xMn2O3(x=0,0.1,0.3,0.5,0.7,0.9 and 1)perovskite oxides by doping Mn into LaFeO3(LF).The results show that the doping amount of Mn has a significant effect on the catalytic performance.When x=0.5,the catalyst LaFeo.sMno.sO3(LFM)exhibits the best performance.The limiting current density in 0.1 mol·L^-1 KOH solution is 7 mA·cm^-2,much larger than that of the commercial Pt/C catalyst(5.5 mA·cm^-2).Meanwhile,the performance of the doped catalyst is also superior to that of commercial Pt/C in terms of the long-term durability.The excellent catalytic performance of LFM may be ascribed to its abundant 0^2-/0^-species and low charge transfer resistance after doping the Mn element.

Self-supporting trimetallic PtAuBi aerogels as electrocatalyst for ethanol oxidation reaction

The creation of anodic ethanol oxidation reaction catalysts with superior all-around performance for direct ethanol fuel cells(DEFCs)has continued to attract the attention of researchers.An ultrathin trimetallic PtAuBi aerogel with branching,rough-surfaced 1D nanowires that self-assemble into a 3D porous network structure has been created in this study.It has a mass activity(MA)of 8045 mA mgPt^(-1)in an alkaline medium,which is 7.56 times greater than that of commercial Pt/C(1064 mA mgPt^(-1)).Notably,the catalytic activity and resistance to CO poisoning of PtAuBi aerogels are improved by the addition of an efficient"active additive"Au.The results analysis reveals that the increased performance of PtAuBi aerogel is mostly attributable to the integrated function of the 3D porous network structure,the downward shift of the Pt d-band center,and the synergistic effect of the"Pt-Bi"and/or"Pt-Au"dual active sites.