Strong electronic coupling of CoNi and N-doped-carbon for efficient urea-assisted H2 production at a large current density

Exploiting efficient urea oxidation reaction(UOR)and hydrogen evolution reaction(HER)catalysts are significant for energy-saving H2 production through urea-assisted water electrolysis,but it is still challenging.Herein,carbon-encapsulated CoNi coupled with CoNiMoO(CoNi@CN-CoNiMoO)is prepared by solvothermal method and calcination to enhance the activity/stability of urea-assisted water electrolysis at large current density.It exhibits good activity for UOR(E10/1,000=1.29/1.40 V)and HER(E-10/-1000=-45/-245 mV)in 1.0 M KOH+0.5 M urea solution.For the UOR||HER system,CoNi@CN-CoNiMoO only needs 1.58 V at 500 mA cm-2 and shows good stability.Density functional theory calculation suggests that the strong electronic interaction at the interface between NiCo alloy and N-doping-carbon layers can optimize the adsorption/desorption energy of UOR/HER intermediates and accelerate the water dissociation,which can expedite urea decomposition and Volmer step,thus increasing the UOR and HER activity,respectively.This work provides a new solution to design UOR/HER catalysts for H2 production through urea-assisted water electrolysis.

Self-supported Fe_(x)Ni_(1-x)MoO_(4) with synergistic morphology and composition for efficient overall water splitting at large current density

Developing the high activity,low cost and robust large-current-density-based electrocatalysts is of great significance for the industrial electrolytic water splitting.However,the current range of most reported materials is small,which makes it difficult for them to play their roles in practical applications.Here,a self-supported amorphous FexNi1-xMo O4/IF treated with ammonium fluoride (AF_(0.1)-FNMO/IF) is synthesized by one-step hydrothermal method.With the help of NH4F,AF_(0.1)-FNMO/IF exhibits a vertically cross-linked nanosheet with spherical structure.Electrochemical measurement shows that AF_(0.1)-FNMO/IF affords a large current density ordeal and only need low overpotentials of 289 and 345 m V to reach a current response of 500 m A/cm ^(2)for oxygen evolution reaction and hydrogen evolution reaction,respectively,together with long-time stability (both at 500,1000 and 2000 m A/cm ^(2)) in 1.0 mol/L KOH solution.Using it as bifunctional catalyst for overall water splitting,the current densities of 100,500,1000 and1500 m A/cm ^(2)are achieved at a cell voltage of 1.71,1.88,1.94 and 1.97 V with excellent durability,which is much better than that of most published electrodes.The work provides valuable insight for designing higher activity nickel iron-based molybdate catalysts with large current density.

Highly active bifunctional catalyst: Constructing FeWO_(4)-WO_(3) heterostructure for water and hydrazine oxidation at large current density

Developing high performance anode catalysts for oxygen evolution reaction (OER) and hydrazine oxidation reaction (HzOR) at large current density is an efficient pathway to produce hydrogen. Herein, we synthesize a FeWO_(4)-WO_(3) heterostructure catalyst growing on nickel foam (FeWO_(4)-WO_(3)/NF) by a combination of hydrothermal and calcination method. It shows good catalytic activity with ultralow potentials for OER (ζ_(10) = 1.43 V, ζ_(1.000) = 1.56 V) and HzOR (ζ_(10) = −0.034 V, ζ_(1.000) = 0.164 V). Moreover, there is little performance degradation after being tested for _(10)0 h at 1,000 (OER) and _(10)0 (HzOR) mA·cm−2, indicating good stability. The superior performance could be attributed to the wolframite structure and heterostructure: The former provides a high electrical conductivity to ensure the electronic transfer capability, and the later induces interfacial electron redistribution to enhance the intrinsic activity and stability. The work offers a brand-new way to prepare good performance catalysts for OER and HzOR, especially at large current density.

Trimetallic oxyhydroxides as active sites for large-current-density alkaline oxygen evolution and overall water splitting

Earth-abundant electrocatalysts for large-current-density water splitting under alkaline condition are desirable.Oxygen evolution reaction,which is a bottleneck of the overall water splitting,faces the problems of complicated reconstruction and deficiency in rational design of active sites.Herein,we report a series of transition metal chalcogenides for alkaline OER.Among them,FeCoNi(S)displayed a low overpotential of 293 m V to deliver a current density of 500 m A cm^(-2),which is in the top level of non-precious metal based OER electrocatalysts.A combination of(ex)in situ characterizations and DFT calculation shows that Ni(Fe,Co)trimetallic oxyhydroxides were the active sites for highly-efficient OER.Furthermore,for FeCoNi(S),when used as a bifunctional catalyst for water splitting,it only required a cell voltage of 1.84 V to deliver~500 m A cm^(-2) with extraordinary long-term stability over 2000 h.This work provides the comprehension of high-efficiency,robust catalysts for OER and overall water splitting at large current densities in alkaline media.

Interface engineering of NiSe_(2) nanowrinkles/Ni_(5)P_(4)nanorods for boosting urea oxidation reaction at large current densities

Deliberate modulation of the electronic structure via interface engineering is one of promising perspectives to build advanced catalysts for urea oxidation reaction(UOR)at high current densities.However,it still remains some challenges originating from the intrinsically sluggish UOR dynamics and the high energy barrier for urea adsorption.In response,we report the coupled NiSe_(2)nanowrinkles with Ni_(5)P_(4)nanorods heterogeneous structure onto Ni foam(denoted as NiSe_(2)@Ni_(5)P_(4)/NF)through successive phosphorization and selenization strategy,in which the produced closely contacted interface could provide high-flux electron transfer pathways.Theoretical findings decipher that the fast charge transfer takes place at the interfacial region from Ni_(5)P_(4)to NiSe_(2),which is conducive to optimizing adsorption energy of urea molecules.As expected,the well-designed NiSe_(2)@Ni_(5)P_(4)/NF only requires the low potential of 1.402 V at the current density of 500 mA·cm^(-2).More importantly,a small Tafel slope of 27.6 mV·dec^(-1),a high turnover frequency(TOF)value of 1.037 s^(-1)as well as the prolonged stability of 950 h at the current density of 100 mA·cm^(-2)are also achieved.This study enriches the understanding on the electronic structure modulation via interface engineering and offers bright prospect to design advanced UOR catalysts.

Three-Phase Heterojunction NiMo-Based Nano-Needle for Water Splitting at Industrial Alkaline Condition

Constructing heterojunction is an effective strategy to develop high-performance non-preciousmetal-based catalysts for electrochemical water splitting(WS).Herein,we design and prepare an N-doped-carbon-encapsulated Ni/MoO_(2) nano-needle with three-phase heterojunction(Ni/MoO_(2)@CN)for accelerating the WS under industrial alkaline condition.Density functional theory calculations reveal that the electrons are redistributed at the three-phase heterojunction interface,which optimizes the adsorption energy of H-and O-containing intermediates to obtain the best ΔG_(H*) for hydrogen evolution reaction(HER)and decrease the ΔG value of ratedetermining step for oxygen evolution reaction(OER),thus enhancing the HER/OER catalytic activity.Electrochemical results confirm that Ni/MoO_(2)@CN exhibits good activity for HER(ƞ_(-10)=33 mV,ƞ_(-1000)=267 mV)and OER(ƞ_(10)=250 mV,ƞ_(1000)=420 mV).It shows a low potential of 1.86 V at 1000 mA cm^(−2) for WS in 6.0 M KOH solution at 60℃ and can steadily operate for 330 h.This good HER/OER performance can be attributed to the three-phase heterojunction with high intrinsic activity and the self-supporting nano-needle with more active sites,faster mass diffusion,and bubbles release.This work provides a unique idea for designing high efficiency catalytic materials for WS.