Annealing temperature dependent catalytic water oxidation activity of iron oxyhydroxide thin films

Nanostructured iron oxyhydroxide（Fe OOH） thin films have been synthesized using an electrodeposition method on a nickel foam（NF） substrate and effect of air annealing temperature on the catalytic performance is studied. The as-deposited and annealed thin films were characterized by X-ray diffraction（XRD）,X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy（XPS）, field emission scanning electron microscopy（FE-SEM） and linear sweep voltammetry（LSV） to determine their structural, morphological, compositional and electrochemical properties, respectively. The as-deposited nanostructured amorphous Fe OOH thin film is converted into a polycrystalline Fe;O;with hematite crystal structure at a high temperature. The Fe OOH thin film acts as an efficient electrocatalyst for the oxygen evolution reaction（OER） in an alkaline 1 M KOH electrolyte. The film annealed at 200 °C shows high catalytic activity with an onset overpotential of 240 m V with a smaller Tafel slope of 48 m V/dec. Additionally, it needs an overpotential of 290 mV to the drive the current density of 10 m A/cm;and shows good stability in the 1 M KOH electrolyte solution.

Strontium doped electrospinning fiber membrane with antibacterial and osteogenic properties prepared by pulse electrochemical method

The osteogenic differentiation and new bone formation are commonly delayed by bacterial infection of orthopedic implants,which is urgent to be resolved quickly in the clinic.The current paper prepared a strontium-doped elec-trospinning fiber membrane with antibacterial and osteogenic properties by pulse electrochemical method.Poly-lactic acid/hydroxyapatite(PLLA/HA)composite fiber substrate was fabricated by electrospinning technology,and strontium doped SrHA/Cu/Polypyrrole(PPy)composite coating was constructed with pulse electrodeposi-tion method on its surface.The strontium doping technique,degradation of Sr^(2+)and Cu^(2+),cellular compatibility,and the antibacterial activity of the fiber membrane were examined.The results revealed that the deposition of phosphorus and calcium on composite fiber was the highest,indicating good biological activity.The release of Sr^(2+)and Cu^(2+)was stable and gradual due to the modulation of PPy.The composite fiber presented excellent antibacterial performance and the antibacterial rate was close to 100%against Staphylococcus aureus and Es-cherichia coli.Furthermore,it is conducive to the adhesion,spread,and proliferation of vascular endothelial cells and osteoblasts,namely outstanding osteogenesis and angiogenesis abilities.In conclusion,the multifunctional PLLA/HA@SrHA/Cu/PPy composite fiber membrane with good antibacterial and osteogenic activity by electro-spinning technology and pulsed electrochemical deposition method provides an effective strategy for the poor bone healing of infected bone defects.

In-situ Generation of Hydroxyl Layers in Coo@FeSe_(2) Catalyst for High Selectivity Seawater Electrolysis

Seawater electrolysis holds great promise for hydrogen production in the future,while the development of anodic catalysts has been severely hampered by the side-reaction,chloride evolution reaction.In this work,nano-flower-cluster structured Coo@FeSe_(2)/CF catalysts are synthesized via a scalable electrodeposition technique,and the performance is systematically studied.The oxygen evolution reaction(OER)overpotential of Co0@FeSe_(2)/CF is 267 mV at 100 mA.cm^(-2),which is significantly lower than that of the IrO_(2) catalyst(435 mV).Additionally,the catalyst shows high selectivity for OER(97.9%)and almost no loss of activity after a durability test for 1100 h.The impressive performance is attributed to the dense rod-like structure with abundant active centers after electrochemical activation and the in-situ generated CoOOH and FeOOH that improve the catalytic activity of the catalyst.The synergistic effect induced bythenon-uniform structureendows the catalyst with excellent stability.

Decoration of vertically aligned TiO2 nanotube arrays with WO3 particles for hydrogen fuel production

WO3 decorated photoelectrodes of titanium nanotube arrays （W-oxide TNTAs） were synthesized via a two-step process, namely, electrochemical oxidation of titanium foil and electrodeposition of W-oxide for various interval times of 1, 2, 3, 5, and 20 min to improve the photoelectrochemical performance and the amount of hydrogen generated. The synthesized photoelectrodes were characterized by various characterization techniques. The presence of tungsten in the modified TNTAs was confirmed using energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy （EDX）. Field emission scanning electron microscopy （FESEM） and high resolution transmission electron microscope （HRTEM） proved the deposition of W-oxide as small particles staked up on the surface of the tubes at lower deposition time whereas longer times produced large and aggregate particles to mostly cover the surface of TiO2 nanotubes. Additionally, the incorporation of WO3 resulted in a shift of the absorption edge toward visible light as confirmed by UV-Vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy and a decrease in the estimated band gap energy values hence, modified TNTAs facilitated a more efficient utilization of solar light for water splitting. From the photoelectrochemical measurement data, the optimal photoelectrode produced after 2 min of deposition time improved the photo conversion efficiency and the hydrogen generation by 30% compared to that of the pure TNTA.

Hierarchical CuCo_2O_4@nickel-cobalt hydroxides core/shell nanoarchitectures for high-performance hybrid supercapacitors

Ni0.5Co0.5（OH）2 nanosheets coated CuCo2O4 nanoneedles arrays were successfully designed and synthe- sized on carbon fabric. The core/shell nanoarchitectures directly served as the binder-free electrode with a superior capacity of 295.6 mAh g-1 at 1 Ag-1, which still maintained 220 mAh g-1 even at the high current density of 40 A g-l, manifesting their enormous potential in hybrid supercapacitor devices. The asassembled CuCo2O4@Ni0.5Co0.5（OH）2]]AC hybrid supercapacitor device exhibited favorable properties with the specific capacitance as high as 90 F g 1 at 1 A g-1 and the high energy density of 32 Wh kg 1 at the power density of 800 Wkg-1. Furthermore, the as-assembled device also delivered excellent cycling performance （retaining 91.9% of the initial capacitance after 12,000 cycles at 8 A g 1） and robust mechanical stability and flexibility, implying the huge potential of present hierarchical electrodes in energy storage devices.