Highly Selective Electrocatalytic CuEDTA Reduction by MoS_(2) Nanosheets for Efficient Pollutant Removal and Simultaneous Electric Power Output

Electrocatalytic reduction of ethylenediamine tetraacetic acid copper(CuEDTA),a typical refractory heavy metal complexation pollutant,is an environmental benign method that operates at mild condition.Unfortunately,the selective reduction of CuEDTA is still a big challenge in cathodic process.In this work,we report a MoS_(2) nanosheet/graphite felt(GF)cathode,which achieves an average Faraday efficiency of 29.6%and specific removal rate(SRR)of 0.042 mol/cm^(2)/h for CuEDTA at−0.65 V vs SCE(saturated calomel electrode),both of which are much higher than those of the commonly reported electrooxidation technology-based removal systems.Moreover,a proofof-concept CuEDTA/Zn battery with Zn anode and MoS_(2)/GF cathode is demonstrated,which has bifunctions of simultaneous CuEDTA removal and energy output.This is one of the pioneer studies on the electrocatalytic reduction of heavy metal complex and CuEDTA/Zn battery,which brings new insights in developing efficient electrocatalytic reduction system for pollution control and energy output.

Noncovalent interactions on the electrocatalytic oxidation of ethanol on a Pt/C electrocatalyst

Due to their environmentally friendly nature and high energy density,direct ethanol fuel cells have attracted extensive research attention in recent decades.However,the actual Faraday efficiency of the ethanol oxidation reaction(EOR)is much lower than its theoretical value and the reaction kinetics of the EOR is sluggish due to insufficient active sites on the electrocatalyst surface.Pt/C is recognized as one of the most promising electrocatalysts for the EOR.Thus,the microscopic interfacial reaction mechanisms of the EOR on Pt/C were systematically studied in this work.In metal hydroxide solutions,hydrated alkali cations were found to bind with OH_(ad)through noncovalent interactions to form clusters and occupy the active sites on the Pt/C electrocatalyst surface,thus resulting in low Faraday efficiency and sluggish kinetics of the EOR.To reduce the negative effect of the noncovalent interactions on the EOR,a shield was made on the electrocatalyst surface using 4-trifluoromethylphenyl,resulting in twice the EOR catalytic reactivity of Pt/C.

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.