Air Electrode Supported Manganese Electrocatalysts for Neutral Electrolyte Magnesium Air Cell

X The catalysts of air electrode were prepared by sintering the active carbon loaded with manganese nitrate and potassium permanganate at 360 ℃ . The air electrode was made up of a catalyst layer, a waterproof and gas-permeable layer, a current collecting substrate and a second wa-terproof and gas-permeable layer. The cell was assembled by the air electrode, pure magnesium anode and 10% NaCl solution used as electrolyte. The microstructures of air electrodes before and after discharging were characterized by SEM. The electrochemical behaviors of the air electrodes were determined by means of polarization curves, volt-ampere curves and constant current discharge curves. The polarization voltage of air electrode is-173 mV （vs SCE） at the current density of 50 mA/cm2. The air electrodes exhibits good activity and stability in neutral electrolyte. The magnesium-air cell could work at 5 W for more than 7 h.

Total conversion of centimeter-scale nickel foam into single atom electrocatalysts with highly selective CO_(2)electrocatalytic reduction in neutral electrolyte

To improve the atomic utilization of metals and reduce the cost of industrialization,the one-step total monoatomization of macroscopic bulk metals,as opposed to nanoscale metals,is effective.In this study,we used a thermal diffusion method to directly convert commercial centimeter-scale Ni foam to porous Ni single-atom-loaded carbon nanotubes(CNTs).As expected,owing to the coating of single-atom on porous,highly conductive CNT carriers,Ni single-atom electrocatalysts(Ni-SACs)exhibit extremely high activity and selectivity in CO_(2)electroreduction(CO_(2)RR),yielding a current density of>350 mA/cm^(2),a selectivity for CO of>91%under a flow cell configuration using a 1 M potassium chloride(KCl)electrolyte.Based on the superior activity of the Ni-SACs electrocatalyst,an integrated gas-phase electrochemical zero-gap reactor was introduced to generate a significant amount of CO current for potential practical applications.The overall current can be increased to 800 mA,while maintaining CO Faradaic efficiencies(FEs)at above 90%per unit cell.Our findings and insights on the active site transformation mechanism for macroscopic bulk Ni foam conversion into single atoms can inform the design of highly active single-atom catalysts used in industrial CO_(2)RR systems.

Electrochemical Behavior of Vanadium Carbide in Neutral Aqueous Electrolytes

The V_2C compound,belonging to the group of two-dimensional transition metal carbonitrides,or MXenes,has demonstrated a promising electrochemical performance in capacitor applications in acidic electrolytes;however,there is evidence to suggest that V_2C is unstable in an acidic environment.On the other hand,the performance of V_2C in neutral aqueous electrolytes is still moderate,and has not yet been systematically studied.The charge storage mechanism in a V_2C electrode,employed in neutral aqueous electrolytes,is investigated via cyclic voltammetry testing and in situ x-ray diffraction(XRD).Good specific capacitances are achieved,specifically208 F/g in 0.5 M Li_2SO_4,225 F/g in 1 M MgSO_4,120 F/g in 1 M Na_2 SO_4,and 104 F/g in 0.5 M K_2SO_4.Using in situ XRD,we observe that,during the charge and discharge process,the c-lattice parameter shrinks or expands by up to 0.25 A in MgSO_4,and 0.29 A in Li_2SO_4 which demonstrates the intercalation/de-intercalation of cations into the d-V_2C layer.

Toward Enhancing Wearability and Fashion of Wearable Supercapacitor with Modified Polyurethane Artificial Leather Electrolyte

Inspired by the sophisticated artificial leather garment industry and toward enhancing wearability of energy storage devices, we demonstrate a polyurethane artificial leather supercapacitor with large sheet electrodes embedded in theleather layer simultaneously working as a polyelectrolyte. This design totally reserves textiles underneath and thus addresses the well-known challenge of wearing comfortability. It provides a revolutionary configuration of wearable supercapacitors: the artificial leather on garment is also a supercapacitor.Unlike the polyvinyl alcohol-based acidic electrolytes, which are widely used, sodium chloride is used to modify the intrinsically fluorescent polyurethane leather for ionic transportation, which has no harm to human. The fluorescent leather supercapacitor is easily transferrable from any arbitrary substrates to form various patterns, enabling multifunctionalities of practical wearability, fashion, and energy storage.

Self-Supported Nanoporous Gold with Gradient Tin Oxide for Sustainable and Efficient Hydrogen Evolution in Neutral Media

Hydrogen evolution reaction(HER)in neutral medium suffers from slow kinetics as compared to that in alkaline or acidic conditions,owing to larger Ohmic loss and low proton concentration.Here we report that a self-supported nanoporous Au-SnO_(x)(NP Au-SnO_(x))catalyst with gradient tin oxide surface could significantly enhance HER activity in neutral buffer solution(0.2 M PBS).The NP Au-SnO_(x)catalyst exhibits a low onset overpotential of 38 mV and a small Tafel slope of 79 mV dec^(−1).The current density of 10 mA cm^(−2)is manifested at an overpotential as low as 148 mV,representing the comparable performance of Pt/C catalyst.This high catalytic activity can retain at least 10 hours without any detectable decay.The superior HER activity is proposed to originate from the gradient SnO_(x)structure and metal/oxide interfaces in nanoporous ligaments.Furthermore,the X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy reveals that the gradient oxide in the ligament is remarkably stable during long-term reaction.

In situ growth CNT@MOFs core-shell structures enabling high specific supercapacitances in neutral aqueous electrolyte

Conductive metal-organic frameworks(c-MOFs)are promising active electrode materials for electrochemical double-layer capacitors with a performance that already exceeds most carbon-based materials.However,their excellent supercapacitance is primarily based on organic or alkaline electrolytes,which largely impede their broad applications and sustainabilities.In this work,we propose a new synthesis approach for fabricating carbon nanotubes and c-MOFs(CNT@MOFs)core–shell structures,which result in high supercapacitance in neutral aqueous electrolytes.We identify that CNTs provide abundant active sites to ensure high capacitance,and Ni3(2,3,6,7,10,11-hexaiminotriphenylene(HITP))2 nanoarrays that in situ grow on the surface of CNTs bundles can significantly improve the conductivity and provide enough ion transport pathways in aqueous electrolytes.Specifically,using CNT@MOFs core-shell structures as an electrode,we obtained a high initial capacitance of 150.7 F·g^(−1) at 0.1 A·g^(−1) in 1 M Na2SO4 solution and good capacity retention of 83.5%after 10,000 cycles at 4 A·g^(−1).We also found that the carboxyl groups on the surface of CNTs provide better anchor sites for the in situ growth of c-MOF,which promotes the uniform growth of c-MOF shells on the CNT surface and improves aqueous electrolyte accessibility.We believe that the high supercapacitance in aqueous electrolytes reported in this work would provide a good prospect for deploying c-MOF based energy storage devices into biomedical and other healthcare electronic applications.