Metallic Nickel Hydroxide Nanosheets Give Superior Electrocatalytic Oxidation of Urea for Fuel Cells |
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| Authors: | Xiaojiao Zhu Xinyu Dou Jun Dai Xingda An Yuqiao Guo Prof. Lidong Zhang Shi Tao Jiyin Zhao Prof. Wangsheng Chu Prof. Xiao Cheng Zeng Prof. Changzheng Wu Prof. Yi Xie |
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| Affiliation: | 1. Hefei National Laboratory for Physical Sciences at the Microscale iChEM (Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemistry for Energy Materials), CAS Center for Excellence in Nanoscience, and CAS Key Laboratory of Mechanical Behavior and Design of Materials, University of Science & Technology of China, Hefei, P.R. China;2. College of Chemistry, Jilin University, Changchun, China;3. Department of Chemistry, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE, USA;4. National Synchrotron Radiation Laboratory, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui, P.R. China |
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| Abstract: | The direct urea fuel cell (DUFC) is an important but challenging renewable energy production technology, it offers great promise for energy‐sustainable developments and mitigating water contamination. However, DUFCs still suffer from the sluggish kinetics of the urea oxidation reaction (UOR) owing to a 6 e? transfer process, which poses a severe hindrance to their practical use. Herein, taking β‐Ni(OH)2 nanosheets as the proof‐of‐concept study, we demonstrated a surface‐chemistry strategy to achieve metallic Ni(OH)2 nanosheets by engineering their electronic structure, representing a first metallic configuration of transition‐metal hydroxides. Surface sulfur incorporation successfully brings synergetic effects of more exposed active sites, good wetting behavior, and effective electron transport, giving rise to greatly enhanced performance for UOR. Metallic nanosheets exhibited a much higher current density, smaller onset potential and stronger durability. |
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| Keywords: | fuel cells metallic transition-metal hydroxide nanosheets sulfur urea oxidation reaction |
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