Electrocatalysts Based on Transition Metal Borides and Borates for the Oxygen Evolution Reaction

Electrochemical water splitting is a clean and sustainable process for hydrogen production on a large scale as the electrical power required can be obtained from various renewable energy resources. The key challenge in electrochemical water splitting process is to develop low-cost electrocatalysts with high catalytic activity for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) on the cathode and the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) on the anode. OER is the most important half-reaction involved in water splitting, which has been extensively studied since the last century and a large amount of electrocatalysts including noble and non-noble metal-based materials have been developed. Among them, transition metal borides and borates (TMBs)-based compounds with various structures have attracted increasing attention owing to their excellent OER performance. In recent years, many efforts have been devoted to exploring the OER mechanism of TMBs and to improving the OER activity and stability of TMBs. In this review, recent research progress made in TMBs as efficient electrocatalysts for OER is summarized. The chemical properties, synthetic methodologies, catalytic performance evaluation, and improvement strategy of TMBs as OER electrocatalysts are discussed. The electrochemistry fundamentals of OER are first introduced in brief, followed by a summary of the preparation and performance of TMBs-based OER electrocatalysts. Finally, current challenges and future directions for TMBs-based OER electrocatalysts are discussed.     

Transition metal-based electrocatalysts for overall water splitting

Electrochemical overall water splitting is attracting a broad focus as a promising strategy for converting the electrical output of renewable resources into chemical fuels, specifically oxygen and hydrogen. However, the urgent challenge in water electrolysis is to search for low-cost, high-efficiency catalysts based on earth-abundant elements as an alternative to the high-cost but effective noble metal-based catalysts. The transition metal-based catalysts are more appealing than the noble metal catalysts because of its low cost, high performance and long stability. Some recent advances for the development in overall water splitting are reviewed in terms of transition metal-based oxides, carbides, phosphides, sulfides, and hybrids of their mixtures as hybrid bifunctional electrocatalysts. Concentrating on different catalytic mechanisms, recent advances in their structural design, controllable synthesis, mechanistic insight, and performance-enhancing strategies are proposed. The challenges and prospects for the future development of transition metal-based bifunctional electrocatalysts are also addressed.     

Air-Stable Mn doped CuCl/CuO Hybrid Triquetrous Nanoarrays as Bifunctional Electrocatalysts for Overall Water Splitting

The development of highly efficient non-precious metal catalysts for oxygen evolution reaction (OER) and hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) is key for large-scale hydrogen evolution through water splitting technology. Here, we report an air-stable Cu-based nanostructure consisting of Mn doped CuCl and CuO (CuCl/CuO(Mn)-NF) as a dual functional electrocatalyst for water splitting. CuCl is identified as the main active component, together with Mn doping and the synergistic effect between CuCl and CuO are found to make responsibility for the excellent OER and HER catalytic activity and stability. The assembled electrolyzes also exhibit decent water splitting performance. This work not only provides a simple method for preparing Cu-based composite catalyst, but also demonstrates the great potential of Cu-based non-noble metal electrocatalysts for water splitting and other renewable energy conversion technologies.     

水电解制氢非贵金属催化剂的研究进展

氢能作为零碳排放能源是被公认的最清洁能源之一,如何有效可持续地产氢是未来人类步入氢能经济首先要解决的问题。电解水技术基于电化学分解水的原理,利用可再生电能或太阳能驱动水分解为氢气和氧气,被认为是最有前途和可持续性的产氢途径。然而,无论是光解水还是电解水,均需要高活性、高稳定性的非贵金属氢析出和氧析出催化剂以使水电解反应经济节能。本文介绍了我们研究所近三年在水电解方面的研究进展,其中着重介绍了：（ⅰ）氢析出催化剂,包括利用低温磷化过渡金属（氢）氧化物的方法制备过渡金属磷化物,同时过渡金属硫化物、硒化物以及碳化物等均被成功合成并被应用为有效的阴极析氢催化剂;（ⅱ）氧析出催化剂,主要包括金属磷化物、硫化物、氧化物/氢氧化物等;（ⅲ）双功能催化剂,主要包括过渡金属磷化物、硒化物、硫化物等。最后,总结展望了发展水电解非贵金属催化剂所面临的挑战与未来发展方向。     

基于碳纤维材料基底的电解水制氢催化剂的研究进展

电解水制氢技术是未来获得清洁氢能源的有效途径之一。铂作为高效的电解水制氢催化剂,由于其价格昂贵,难以回收,不利于氢能源与氢经济的发展,因此发展高效的非贵金属电催化剂,使电解水制氢过程更加高效、经济化是十分关键的科学问题。本文综述了近年来电解水制氢催化剂的研究进展,重点集中在以碳纤维材料为基底的非贵金属催化剂领域。总结了几类重要的多相异质非贵金属催化剂,包括磷化物、硫化物、硒化物、碳化物、氧化物催化剂等,重点探讨了各种析氢催化剂的合成方法和性能提高策略。同时,本文也简要概述了碳纤维基底材料在电分析化学检测方面的应用研究。     

过渡金属电解水催化剂的非金属掺杂研究进展

过渡金属基材料成本相对较低,催化性能较为优异,是在全水分解领域最有希望替代贵金属基电催化剂的候选材料之一,但有限的活性位点、相对较差的电导率等因素限制了其广泛应用。非金属元素掺杂能够调节主体材料电子结构,优化吸附能,从而对过渡金属基电催化剂的活性与稳定性产生积极影响,缩减其与贵金属材料性能差距。本文总结了近年来非金属元素改性在过渡金属基电催化材料中的相关研究,系统综述了非金属元素掺杂的方法和不同非金属元素的掺杂效果,从物理化学性质的改变和电子结构的变化多角度分析了非金属元素改性对过渡金属基材料的影响,最后对非金属元素掺杂过渡金属基电催化剂的未来发展方向作出了展望。     

钙钛矿型稀土氧化物的合成及其能源转化储存应用研究进展

钙钛矿型稀土氧化物价格低廉、结构可控、性质多样,在催化领域有着广阔的应用前景。本文从钙钛矿型稀土氧化物的结构类型、合成方法及电化学催化反应出发,总结了传统高温合成方法、火焰喷雾法、静电纺丝法和脉冲激光沉积法等几种最常用的合成方法,以及提升其氧析出反应(OER),氢析出反应(HER)和氧还原反应(ORR)催化能力的典型有效方法,概述了近年来钙钛矿型稀土氧化物在电解水、金属空气电池和固体氧化物燃料电池等能源转化储存装置的主要研究进展,进而对钙钛矿型稀土氧化物在能源转化储存领域的应用进行了展望。     

Cobalt phosphide nanoparticles supported within network of N-doped carbon nanotubes as a multifunctional and scalable electrocatalyst for water splitting

In order to realize industrial production of hydrogen through water splitting,it is essential to develop a cost-efficient and scalable approach to synthesize nonprecious electrocatalysts with sufficiently high activity and stability to replace commercial noble-metal-based electrocatalysts.Herein we synthesize cobalt phosphide nanoparticles dispersed within nitrogen-doped carbon nanotube network(CP@NCNT) via scalable spray drying and thermal treatments.As a multifunctional electrocatalyst,the CP@NCNT hybrid delivers outstanding activity for HER(in both acidic and alkaline electrolytes),OER and overall water splitting.Remarkably,it shows an ultra-low overpotental of 94 mV to obtain 10 mA cm-2 in HER.It also demonstrates outstanding activity in overall water splitting,requiring only 1.619 V to deliver 10 mA cm-2with more than 72 h’ long-term stability.The combination of notable performance,multi-functionality and highly scalable spray-drying synthesis method enables this material as a novel and cost-efficient transition metal-based electrocatalysts for overall water splitting.     

Recent advances in one-dimensional nanostructures for energy electrocatalysis

Catalysts play decisive roles in determining the energy conversion efficiencies of energy devices. Up to now, various types of nanostructured materials have been studied as advanced electrocatalysts. This review highlights the application of one-dimensional (1D) metal electrocatalysts in energy conversion, focusing on two important reaction systems—direct methanol fuel cells and water splitting. In this review, we first give a broad introduction of electrochemical energy conversion. In the second section, we summarize the recent significant advances in the area of 1D metal nanostructured electrocatalysts for the electrochemical reactions involved in fuel cells and water splitting systems, including the oxygen reduction reaction, methanol oxidation reaction, hydrogen evolution reaction, and oxygen evolution reaction. Finally, based on the current studies on 1D nanostructures for energy electrocatalysis, we present a brief outlook on the research trend in 1D nanoelectrocatalysts for the two clean electrochemical energy conversion systems mentioned above.     

ZnO-Templated Selenized and Phosphorized Cobalt-Nickel Oxide Microcubes as Rapid Alkaline Water Oxidation Electrocatalysts

Oxygen electrocatalysis is of remarkable significance for electrochemical energy storage and conversion technologies, together with fuel cells, metal-air batteries, and water splitting devices. Substituting noble metal-based electrocatalysts by decidedly effective and low-cost metal-based oxygen electrocatalysts is imperative for the commercial application of these technologies. Herein, a novel strategy is presented to fabricate selenized and phosphorized porous cobalt-nickel oxide microcubes by using a sacrificial ZnO spherical template and the resulting microcubes are employed as an oxygen evolution reaction (OER) electrocatalyst. The selenized samples manifest desirable and robust OER performance, with comparable overpotential at 10 mA cm⁻² (312 mV) as RuO₂ (308 mV) and better activity when the current reaches 13.7 mA cm⁻². The phosphorized samples exhibit core–shell structure with low-crystalline oxides inside amorphous phosphides, which ensures superior activity than RuO₂ with the same overpotential (at 10 mA cm⁻²) yet lower Tafel slope. Such a surface doping method possibly will provide inspiration for engineering electrocatalysts applied in water oxidation.     

Designed preparation of CoS/Co/MoC nanoparticles incorporated in N and S dual-doped porous carbon nanofibers for high-performance Zn-air batteries

The development of low-cost and highly efficient bifunctional electrocatalysts toward oxygen reduction reaction(ORR) and oxygen evolution reaction(OER) is of critical importance for clean energy devices such as fuel cells and metal-air batteries.Herein,a sophisticated na nostructure composed of CoS,Co and MoC nanoparticles incorporated in N and S dual-doped porous carbon nanofibers(CoS/Co/MoC-N,SPCNFs) as a high-efficiency bifunctional electrocatalyst is designed and synthesized via an efficient multistep strategy.The as-prepared CoS/Co/MoC-N,S-PCNFs exhibit a positive half-wave potential(E_(1/2)) of0.871 V for ORR and a low overpotential of 289 mV at 10 mA/cm~2 for OER,outperforming the non-noble metal-based catalysts reported.Furthermore,the assembled Zn-air battery based on CoS/Co/MoC-N,SPCNFs delivers an excellent power density(169.1 mW/cm~2),a large specific capacity(819.3 mAh/g) and robust durability,demonstrating the great potential of the as-developed bifunctional electrocatalyst in practical applications.This work is expected to inspire the design of advanced bifunctional nonprecious metal-based electrocatalysts for energy storage.     

多酸在电催化析氢反应中的应用研究进展

电催化水裂解是一种可持续用于生产可再生氢能源的技术。然而,开发高效稳定、低成本的析氢电催化剂仍是一项具有挑战性的任务。多金属氧酸盐(多酸)是一种离散的金属氧簇合物,通常由氧配体和高价的钒(V)、钼(VI)、钨(VI)金属构成。由于多酸含有丰富的氧化还原活性金属中心,因此,近几年来,多酸在水裂解应用研究方面备受关注。本综述将聚焦于多酸在电催化水裂解析氢的应用研究进展。本文还突出强调了电催化析氢目前面临的主要问题,以及对多酸基催化剂及作为催化剂前体在电催化析氢方面的应用及发展前景做了展望。     

Boosting pH-Universal Hydrogen Evolution of Molybdenum Disulfide Particles by Interfacial Engineering

The design of high-efficiency non-noble and earth-abundant electrocatalysts for hydrogen evolution reaction(HER)is highly paramount for water splitting and renewable energy systems.Molybdenum disulfide(MoS₂)with abundant edge sites can be utilized as a promising alternative,but its catalytic activity is greatly related to the pH values,especially in an alkaline environment due to the extremely high energy barriers for water adsorption and dissociation steps.Here we report an exceptionally efficient and stable electrocatalyst to improve the sluggish HER process of layered MoS₂particles in different pH electrolytes,especially in base.The electrocatalyst is constructed by in situ growing selenium-doped MoS₂(Se-MoS₂)nanoparticles on three-dimensional cobalt nickel diselenide(mCo_0.2Ni_0.8Se₂)nanostructured arrays.Due to the large number of active edge sites of Se-MoS₂particles exposed at the surface,robust electrical conductivity and large surface area of mCo_0.2Ni_0.8Se₂support,and strong interfacial interactions between Se-MoS₂and mCo_0.2Ni_0.8Se₂,this hybrid catalyst shows very outstanding catalytic HER properties featured by low overpotentials of 30 and 122 mV at 10 and 100 mA/cm²with good operational stability in base,respectively,which outperforms most of inexpensive catalysts consisting of layered MoS₂,transition metal selenides and sulfides,and it performs as well as noble Pt catalysts.Meanwhile,this electrocatalyst is also very active in neutral and acidic electrolytes,requiring low overpotentials of 93 and 94 mV at 10 mA/cm²,respectively,demonstrating its superb pH universality as a HER electrocatalyst with excellent catalytic durability.This study provides a straightforward strategy to construct an efficient non-noble electrocatalyst for driving the HER kinetics in different electrolytes.     

High-Density Cationic Defects Coupling with Local Alkaline-Enriched Environment for Efficient and Stable Water Oxidation

The inferior activity and stability of non-noble metal-based electrocatalysts for oxygen evolution reaction (OER) seriously limit their practical applications in various electrochemical energy conversion systems. Here we report, a drastic nonequilibrium precipitation approach to construct a highly disordered crystal structure of layered double hydroxides as a model OER catalyst. The unconventional crystal structure contains high-density cationic defects coupled with a local alkaline-enriched environment, enabling ultrafast diffusion of OH⁻ ions and thus avoiding the formation of a local acidic environment and dissolution of active sites during OER. An integrated experimental and theoretical study reveals that high-density cationic defects, especially di-cationic and multi-cationic defects, serve as highly active and durable catalytic sites. This work showcases a promising strategy of crystal structure engineering to construct robust active sites for high-performance oxygen evolution in an alkaline solution.     

Heterostructures based on transition metal chalcogenides and layered double hydroxides for enhanced water splitting

Heterostructure engineering, as a strategy to overcome the limitation of single component activity, e.g., transition metal chalcogenides (TMCs) or layered double hydroxides (LDHs), and improve the electrocatalytic performance of multi-electron charge transfer reactions is reviewed. The main mechanism of heterostructure engineering is briefly described, and selected examples are given to investigate the contribution of synergistic effects of such heterostructure to improve water splitting.     

金属单原子催化剂在电催化二氧化碳和水裂解的研究进展

利用电催化技术开发新型能源,是替代传统能源的一种新策略,大量使用化石燃料导致的环境问题有望会通过此技术的发展而得到良好解决,设计并制备出高效稳定的电催化剂对于新型能源技术开发应用至关重要.单原子催化剂(SACs)在载体上具有原子分布的活性位点,是催化领域的新兴材料,具有美好的应用前景,现已成为电催化领域的研究热点.在此综述中,详细阐述了单原子电催化剂的一般载体、制备方法及其先进表征方法,系统总结了单原子电催化剂在能量转化和环境保护(CO₂还原、水裂解)方面的应用.同时,基于各种单原子催化剂研究的最新进展,简单阐述了催化机制,讨论了单原子催化剂在电催化方向的发展挑战和前景,希望为单原子电催化剂的合成、设计和应用提供经验,以更好地促进电催化能量转换方面的发展.     

中空MOFs材料制备及电催化应用的研究进展

水分裂、金属-空气电池和燃料电池等能源转换技术对解决未来的能源危机和环境问题至关重要.氧还原反应(ORR)、氧析出反应(OER)和氢析出反应(HER)作为其核心反应,存在反应动力学速率较慢的问题,因此,开发研制高效的非贵金属电催化剂具有重要意义.金属有机骨架(MOFs)材料因具有高度可调的组成和多孔晶体结构,在不同的应用领域引起了越来越多的关注.中空MOFs纳米材料具有MOFs材料高度可调的组成和结构优势,又具有中空结构纳米材料的优点(如更快的物质传输、更丰富的孔隙率、灵活多变的活性组分、更多的暴露活性位点及对苛刻条件的更好相容性等),在电催化领域显现出巨大的应用潜力.本文对近几年来基于中空结构MOFs材料的制备及在电催化方面应用的研究进展进行了综合评述,并对该领域面临的挑战和发展前景进行了总结和展望.     

氮掺杂石墨炭包覆的钴纳米催化剂作高效、高稳定性电催化制氢

电催化制氢是解决当前能源危机的重要手段之一。 研究高效稳定的非贵金属电催化剂是电催化制氢商业应用的重点。 本文通过直接高温热解双金属沸石咪唑骨架,制备了一种氮掺杂石墨炭(NC)包覆均匀分布的钴纳米颗粒电催化剂(V-Co@NC,这里V是vacancy缩写),前躯体中的Zn元素有效地防止钴纳米颗粒的聚集,并有助于生成均匀分布的钴纳米颗粒。 这种特殊的纳米结构可防止钴与电解液的直接接触,提升了其循环稳定性,同时,氮元素的掺杂提升了导电性,有利于电催化制氢性能的提升。 结果表明,所制备的V-Co@NC催化剂在酸性和碱性电解液中均具有良好的催化性能,且经过5000次循环测试后催化活性基本保持不变,具有良好的应用前景。为高活性和高选择性的电催化制氢催化剂的发展提供一种全新的途径。     

非贵金属电催化析氧催化剂的最新进展

氢气具有环境友好、含量丰富、高能量密度等特点,是一种可以替代化石能源的绿色环保可再生能源. 电解水是制备氢气最有效途径之一. 但在电解水过程中,动力学过程非常缓慢,过电位较大的阳极析氧半反应严重限制了阴极析氢反应效率. 因此,研究高效、稳定和低成本的催化剂来降低析氧反应的过电位,从而提高析氢反应效率受到了广泛关注. 基于非贵金属催化剂本身特性及其在高浓度OH-条件下具有较高OER催化活性等原因,本文首先简要介绍碱性条件下析氧反应机理及其性能的评价方法,然后重点讨论非贵金属电催化析氧催化剂的最新研究进展. 最后对如何深入研究催化机理、设计高效、双功能及新型非贵金属电催化析氧催化剂进行了展望.     

A Bifunctional Hybrid Electrocatalyst for Oxygen Reduction and Evolution: Cobalt Oxide Nanoparticles Strongly Coupled to B,N-Decorated Graphene

The electrocatalyzed oxygen reduction and evolution reactions (ORR and OER, respectively) are the core components of many energy conversion systems, including water splitting, fuel cells, and metal–air batteries. Rational design of highly efficient non-noble materials as bifunctional ORR/OER electrocatalysts is of great importance for large-scale practical applications. A new strongly coupled hybrid material is presented, which comprises CoO_x nanoparticles rich in oxygen vacancies grown on B,N-decorated graphene (CoO_x NPs/BNG) and operates as an efficient bifunctional OER/ORR electrocatalyst. Advanced spectroscopic techniques were used to confirm formation of abundant oxygen vacancies and strong Co−N−C bridging bonds within the CoO_x NPs/BNG hybrid. Surprisingly, the CoO_x NPs/BNG hybrid electrocatalyst is highly efficient for the OER with a low overpotential and Tafel slope, and is active in the ORR with a positive half-wave potential and high limiting current density in alkaline medium.