Advances in the study of HOR reaction mechanisms under alkaline conditions

Hydrogen energy is an important energy carrier,which is an ideal choice to meet energy demand and reduce harmful gas emissions.The green recycling of hydrogen energy depends on water electrolysis and hydrogen fuel cells,which involves hydrogen oxidation reaction(HOR)and hydrogen evolution reaction(HER).The activity of HER/HOR in alkaline electrolyte,however,exhibits a significantly lower magnitude(2–3 orders)compared to that observed in an acidic medium,which hinders the development of alkaline water electrolysis and alkaline membrane fuel cells.Therefore,comprehending the characteristics of HOR/HER activity in alkaline electrolytes and elucidating its underlyingmechanismis a prerequisite for the designof advanced electrocatalysts.Based on this background,this reviewwill briefly summarize the explanations and controversies about the basic HOR mechanism,including bifunctional mechanismand hydrogen binding energy theory.Moreover,the crucial affecting factors of theHOR kinetics,such as dband center theory,interfacial water recombination,alkali metal cations and electronic effects,are discussed.Thus,based on the above theories,the design principle,catalytic performance,and latest progress ofHOR electrocatalysts are summarized.An outlook and future research perspectives of advanced catalysts for hydrogen energy recycling are addressed.This reviewis helpful to understand the latest development ofHORmechanismand design cost-effective and high-performance HOR electrocatalysts towards the production of clean renewable energies.

Fundamental aspects in CO_(2) electroreduction reaction and solutions from in situ vibrational spectroscopies

Using renewable energy to drive carbon dioxide reduction reaction(CO_(2)RR)electrochemically into chemicals with high energy density is an efficient way to achieve carbon neutrality,where the effective utilization of CO_(2) and the storage of renewable energy are realized.The reactivity and selectivity of CO_(2)RR depend on the structure and composition of the catalyst,applied potential,electrolyte,and pH of the solution.Besides,multiple electron and proton transfer steps are involved in CO_(2)RR,making the reaction pathways even more complicated.In pursuit of molecular-level insights into the CO_(2)RR processes,in situ vibrational methods including infrared,Raman and sum frequency generation spectroscopies have been deployed to monitor the dynamic evolution of catalyst structure,to identify reactive intermediates as well as to investigate the effect of local reaction environment on CO_(2)RR performance.This review summarizes key findings from recent electrochemical vibrational spectrosopic studies of CO_(2)RR in addressing the following issues:the CO_(2)RR mechanisms of different pathways,the role of surface-bound CO species,the compositional and structural effects of catalysts and electrolytes on CO_(2)RR activity and selectivity.Our perspectives on developing high sensitivity wide-frequency infrared spectroscopy,coupling different spectroelectrochemical methods and implementing operando vibrational spectroscopies to tackle the CO_(2)RR process in pilot reactors are offered at the end.

Progress and prospect of Pt-based catalysts for electrocatalytic hydrogen oxidation reactions

To achieve the goals of the peak carbon dioxide emissions and carbon neutral,the development and utilization of sustainable clean energy are extremely important.Hydrogen fuel cells are an important system for converting hydrogen energy into electrical energy.However,the slow hydrogen oxidation reaction(HOR)kinetics under alkaline conditions has limited its development.Therefore,elucidating the catalytic mechanism of HOR in acidic and alkaline media is of great significance for the construction of highly active and stable catalysts.In terms of practicality,Pt is still the primary choice for commercialization of fuel cells.On the above basis,we first introduced the hydrogen binding energy theory and bifunctional theory used to describe the HOR activity,as well as the pH dependence.After that,the rational design strategies of Pt-based HOR catalysts were systematically classified and summarized from the perspective of activity descriptors.In addition,we further emphasized the importance of theoretical simulations and in situ characterization in revealing the HOR mechanism,which is crucial for the rational design of catalysts.Moreover,the practical application of Pt-based HOR catalysts in fuel cells was also presented.In closing,the current challenges and future development directions of HOR catalysts were discussed.This review will provide a deep understanding for exploring the mechanism of highly efficient HOR catalysts and the development of fuel cells.

Defect spinel oxides for electrocatalytic reduction reactions

Electrocatalytic reduction reactions play a crucial role in electrochemical energy conversion and storage technology,which are emerging technologies to ameliorate environmental problems.Spinel oxides are widely explored in electrocatalytic oxidation reactions but have a poor intrinsic ability to reduction reactions,making their electrocatalytic ability less effective.To improve this,defect engineering is a valuable method for regulating the electronic structure and coordination environment.Herein,this manuscript discusses the use of defect spinel oxides in electrocatalytic reduction reactions,including the different types of defects,construction methods,and characterization techniques.It also outlines the various applications of defect spinel oxides in different electrocatalytic reduction reactions.Finally,it goes over the challenges and future outlooks for defect spinels.This review aims to thoroughly explain how defect spinels work in electrocatalytic reduction reactions and serve as a helpful guide for creating effective electrocatalysts.

Overoxidized poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene)-overoxidized polypyrrole composite films with enhanced electrocatalytic ability for rutin and luteolin determination

In this study, a simple and effective method was proposed to improve the electrocatalytic ability of overoxidized poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene)-overoxidized polypyrrole composite films modified on glassy carbon electrode for rutin and luteolin determination. The composite electrode was prepared by cyclic voltammetry copolymerization with LiClO_(4)-water as the supporting electrolyte. The peak current of rutin and luteolin on the composite electrode gradually decreased or even disappeared with the increase in the positive potential limit. After incubation in NaOH–ethanol solution with a volume ratio of 1:1, the composite electrodes prepared at positive potential limit greater than 1.5 V exhibited enhanced differential pulse voltammetry peak currents, reduced charge transfer resistance, larger effective specific surface area and higher electron transfer rate constant. The composite electrode prepared in the potential range of 0–1.7 V showed optimal electrocatalytic performance. The X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy results indicated that the content of –SO_(2)/–SO and –C=N– groups in the composite film increased significantly after incubation. Further, the Raman spectra and Fourier transform infrared spectra revealed that the thiophene ring structure changed from benzene-type to quinone-type, and the quinone-type pyrrole ring was formed. The electrocatalytic mechanism of the composite film was proposed based on the experimental results and further verified by Density Functional Theory calculation.

Polymer-encapsulated metal complex catalysts:An emerging and efficient platform for electrochemical CO_(2) reduction

Over the past decade,electrocatalytic reduction of CO_(2)has gained substantial attention.However,hardly any of the previous reviews have focused on the systematic discussion of polymer-molecular catalyst composites as an emerging system for the electrochemical transformation of CO_(2)to value-added products.In this review,we first give a brief overview of the general features of solid-state and molecular catalysts,and then advance the discussion to polymer-catalyst composite systems,with particular emphasis on polymer-encapsulated molecular catalysts,where the coordination environment surrounding molecular catalysts can be modified via polymer encapsulation to promote the overall performance of CO_(2)electrocatalysis.The elucidation of the possible reaction mechanisms of this emerging electrocat-alytic system along with proposed optimization strategies is also summarized and discussed based on recently published reports,followed by the challenges and prospects of their industrial applications at the end of this review.From this review,we hope the audience can gain a comprehensive understanding of the electrocatalytic mechanism of the coordinating polymers and valuable insights into engineering the microenvironment surrounding the metal complexes for potential future research directions.

In-situ tracking of phase conversion reaction induced metal/metal oxides for efficient oxygen evolution

Due to the unique interface and electronic structure,metal/metal oxide composite electrocatalysts have been designed and exploited for electrocatalytic oxygen evolution reaction(OER)in alkaline solution.However,how to fabricate metal/metal oxides with abundant interfaces and well-dispersed metal phases is a challenge,and the synergistic effect between metal and metal oxides on boosting the electrocatalytic activities is still ambiguous.Herein,by controlling the lithium-induced conversion reaction of metal oxides,metal/metal oxide composites with plentiful interfaces and excellent electrical interconnection are fabricated,which can enhance the active sites,and accelerate the mass transfer during the electrocatalytic reaction.As a result,the electrocatalytic oxygen evolution activities of the as-fabricated metal/metal oxide composite catalysts including NiCo/NiCo2O4,NiMn/NiMn2O4 and CoMn/CoMn2O4 are greatly improved.The catalytic mechanism is also explored using the in-situ X-ray and Raman spectroscopic tracking to uncover the real active centers and the synergistic effect between the metal and metal oxides during water oxidation.Density functional theory plus U(DFT+U)calculation confirms the metal in the composite can optimize the catalytic reaction path and reduce the reaction barrier,thus boosting the electrocatalytic kinetics.