MOF-derived Zn-Co-Ni sulfides with hollow nanosword arrays for high-efficiency overall water and urea electrolysis

Water electrolysis is a promising technology to produce hydrogen but it was severely restricted by the slow oxygen evolution reaction(OER).Herein,we firstly reported an advanced electrocatalyst of MOF-derived hollow Zn-Co-Ni sulfides(ZnS@Co_(9)S_(8)@Ni_(3)S_(2)-1/2,abbreviated as ZCNS-1/2)nanosword arrays(NSAs)with remarkable hydrogen evolution reaction(HER),OER and corresponding water electrolysis performance.To reach a current density of 10 mA cm^(-2),the cell voltage of assembled ZCNS-1/2//ZCNS-1/2 for urea electrolysis(1.314 V)is 208 mV lower than that for water electrolysis(1.522 V)and stably catalyzed for over 15 h,substantially outperforming the most reported water and urea electrolysis electrocatalysts.Density functional theory calculations and experimental result clearly reveal that the properties of large electrochemical active surface area(ECSA)caused by hollow NSAs and fast charge transfer resulted from the Co_(9)S_(8)@Ni_(3)S_(2) heterostructure endow the ZCNS-1/2 electrode with an enhanced electrocatalytic performance.

Sea urchin‐like NiMoO_(4) nanorod arrays as highly efficient bifunctional catalysts for electrocatalytic/photovoltage‐driven urea electrolysis

Developing multifunctional electrocatalysts with high catalytic activity,longterm stability,and low cost is essential for electrocatalytic energy conversion.Herein,sea urchinlike NiMoO_(4) nanorod arrays grown on nickel foam has been developed as a bifunctional electrocatalyst for urea oxidation and hydrogen evolution.The NiMoO_(4)‐200/NF catalyst exhibits efficient activity toward hydrogen evolution reaction with a low overpotential of only 68 mV in 1.0 mol/L KOH to gain a current density of 10 mA cm^(–2).The NiMoO_(4)‐300/NF catalyst exhibits a prominent oxygen evolution reaction(OER)catalytic activity with an overpotential of 288 mV at 50 mA cm^(–2),as well as for urea oxidation reaction with an ultralow potential of 1.36 V at 10 mA cm^(–2).The observed difference in electrocatalytic activity and selectivity,derived by temperature variation,is ascribed to different lattice oxygen contents.The lattice oxygen of NiMoO_(4)‐300/NF is more than that of NiMoO_(4)‐200/NF,and the lattice oxygen is conducive to the progress of OER.A urea electrolyzer was assembled with Ni‐MoO_(4)‐200/NF and NiMoO_(4)‐300/NF as cathode and anode respectively,delivering a current density of 10 mA cm^(–2)at a cell voltage of merely 1.38 V.The NiMoO_(4)nanorod arrays has also been successfully applied for photovoltage‐driven urea electrolysis and hydrogen production,revealing its great potential for solar‐driven energy conversion.

Generating highly active oxide-phosphide heterostructure through interfacial engineering to break the energy scaling relation toward urea-assisted natural seawater electrolysis

Urea-assisted natural seawater electrolysis is an emerging technology that is effective for grid-scale carbon-neutral hydrogen mass production yet challenging.Circumventing scaling relations is an effective strategy to break through the bottleneck of natural seawater splitting.Herein,by DFT calculation,we demonstrated that the interface boundaries between Ni_(2)P and MoO_(2) play an essential role in the selfrelaxation of the Ni-O interfacial bond,effectively modulating a coordination number of intermediates to control independently their adsorption-free energy,thus circumventing the adsorption-energy scaling relation.Following this conceptual model,a well-defined 3D F-doped Ni_(2)P-MoO_(2) heterostructure microrod array was rationally designed via an interfacial engineering strategy toward urea-assisted natural seawater electrolysis.As a result,the F-Ni_(2)P-MoO_(2) exhibits eminently active and durable bifunctional catalysts for both HER and OER in acid,alkaline,and alkaline sea water-based electrolytes.By in-situ analysis,we found that a thin amorphous layer of NiOOH,which is evolved from the Ni_(2)P during anodic reaction,is real catalytic active sites for the OER and UOR processes.Remarkable,such electrode-assembled urea-assisted natural seawater electrolyzer requires low voltages of 1.29 and 1.75 V to drive 10 and600 mA cm^(-2)and demonstrates superior durability by operating continuously for 100 h at 100 mA cm^(-2),beyond commercial Pt/C||RuO_(2) and most previous reports.

Hierarchical coral-like NiMoS nanohybrids as highly efficient bifunctional electrocatalysts for overall urea electrolysis

Novel hierarchical coral-like Ni-Mo sulfides on Ti mesh （denoted as HC-NiMoSfri） were synthesized through facile hydrothermal and subsequent sulfuration processes without any template. These non-precious HC-NiMoS/Ti hybrids were explored as bifunctional catalysts for urea-based overall water splitting, including the anodic urea oxygen evolution reaction （UOR） and cathodic hydrogen evolution reaction （HER）. Due to the highly exposed active sites, excellent charge transfer ability, and good synergistic effects from multi-component reactions, the HC-NiMoS/Ti hybrid exhibited superior activity and high stability, and only a cell voltage of 1.59 V was required to deliver 10 mA.cm-2 current density in an electrolyte of 1.0 M KOH with 0.5 M urea.

Highly efficient overall urea electrolysis via single-atomically active centers on layered double hydroxide

Anodic urea oxidation reaction(UOR)is an intriguing half reaction that can replace oxygen evolution reaction(OER)and work together with hydrogen evolution reaction(HER)toward simultaneous hydrogen fuel generation and urea-rich wastewater purification;however,it remains a challenge to achieve overall urea electrolysis with high efficiency.Herein,we report a multifunctional electrocatalyst termed as Rh/Ni V-LDH,through integration of nickel-vanadium layered double hydroxide(LDH)with rhodium single-atom catalyst(SAC),to achieve this goal.The electrocatalyst delivers high HER mass activity of0.262 A mg^(-1) and exceptionally high turnover frequency(TOF)of 2.125 s^(-1) at an overpotential of100 m V.Moreover,exceptional activity toward urea oxidation is addressed,which requires a potential of 1.33 V to yield 10 mA cm^(-2),endorsing the potential to surmount the sluggish OER.The splendid catalytic activity is enabled by the synergy of the Ni V-LDH support and the atomically dispersed Rh sites(located on the Ni-V hollow sites)as evidenced both experimentally and theoretically.The selfsupported Rh/Ni V-LDH catalyst serving as the anode and cathode for overall urea electrolysis(1 mol L^(-1) KOH with 0.33 mol L^(-1) urea as electrolyte)only requires a small voltage of 1.47 V to deliver 100 mA cm^(-2) with excellent stability.This work provides important insights into multifunctional SAC design from the perspective of support sites toward overall electrolysis applications.

Controllable Ni/NiO interface engineering on N-doped carbon spheres for boosted alkaline water-to-hydrogen conversion by urea electrolysis

Interface engineering has gradually attracted substantial research interest in constructing active bifunctional catalysts toward urea electrolysis.The fundamental understanding of the crystallinity transition of the components on both sides of the interface is extremely significant for realizing controllable construction of catalysts through interface engineering,but it still remains a challenge.Herein,the Ni/NiO heterogenous nanoparticles are successfully fabricated on the porous N-doped carbon spheres by a facile hydrothermal and subsequent pyrolysis strategy.And for the first time we show the experimental observation that the Ni/NiO interface can be fine-tuned via simply tailoring the heating rate during pyrolysis process,in which the crystalline/amorphous or crystalline/crystalline Ni/NiO heterostructure is deliberately constructed on the porous N-doped carbon spheres(named as CA-Ni/NiO@NCS or CC-Ni/NiO@NCS,respectively).By taking advantage of the unique porous architecture and the synergistic effect between crystalline Ni and amorphous NiO,the well-designed CA-Ni/NiO@NCS displays more remarkable urea oxidation reaction(UOR)and hydrogen evolution reaction(HER)activity than its crystalline/crystalline counterpart of CC-Ni/NiO@NCS.Particularly,the whole assembled two-electrode electrolytic cell using the elaborate CANi/NiO@NCS both as the anode and cathode can realize the current density of 10 mA·cm^(−2)at a super low voltage of 1.475 V(264 mV less than that of pure water electrolysis),as well as remarkable prolonged stability over 63 h.Besides,the H_(2)evolution driven by an AA battery and a commercial solar cell is also studied to enlighten practical applications for the future.

Porous rod-like Ni_(2)P/Ni assemblies for enhanced urea electrooxidation

The urea oxidation reaction has attracted increasing attention.Here,porous rod-like Ni2P/Ni assemblies,which consist of numerous nanoparticle subunits with matching interfaces at the nanoscale have been synthesized via a simple phosphating approach.Density functional theory calculations and density of states indicate that porous rod-like Ni2P/Ni assemblies can significantly enhance the activity of chemical bonds and the conductivity compared with NiO/Ni toward the urea oxidation reaction.The optimal catalyst of Ni2P/Ni can deliver a low overpotential of 50 mV at 10 mA·cm−2 and Tafel slope of 87.6 mV·dec−1 in urea oxidation reaction.Moreover,the constructed electrolytic cell exhibits a current density of 10 mA·cm−2 at a cell voltage of 1.47 V and an outstanding durability in the two-electrode system.This work has provided a new possibility to fabricate metal phosphides-metal assemblies with advanced performance.