Molybdenum Phosphosulfide: An Active,Acid‐Stable,Earth‐Abundant Catalyst for the Hydrogen Evolution Reaction

Introducing sulfur into the surface of molybdenum phosphide (MoP) produces a molybdenum phosphosulfide (MoP|S) catalyst with superb activity and stability for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) in acidic environments. The MoP|S catalyst reported herein exhibits one of the highest HER activities of any non‐noble‐metal electrocatalyst investigated in strong acid, while remaining perfectly stable in accelerated durability testing. Whereas mixed‐metal alloy catalysts are well‐known, MoP|S represents a more uncommon mixed‐anion catalyst where synergistic effects between sulfur and phosphorus produce a high‐surface‐area electrode that is more active than those based on either the pure sulfide or the pure phosphide. The extraordinarily high activity and stability of this catalyst open up avenues to replace platinum in technologies relevant to renewable energies, such as proton exchange membrane (PEM) electrolyzers and solar photoelectrochemical (PEC) water‐splitting cells.     

MoP/Al2O3 as a novel catalyst for sulfur‐resistant methanation

We reported γ‐alumina supported molybdenum phosphide (MoP) catalysts as a novel catalyst for sulfur‐resistant methanation reaction. The precursors of the catalyst were prepared by impregnation method and the effect of reduction temperatures (550 °C, 600 °C, 650 °C) of the precursors for sulfur‐resistant methanation was examined. The results indicated catalyst obtained by lower reduction temperature delivered better sulfur‐resistant methanation performance. Meanwhile, the influence of H₂/CO ratios and H₂S content was also investigated. The results indicated that high H₂/CO ratio and low H₂S content was favorable for methanation of MoP catalysts. The catalysts were characterized by N₂ adsorption–desorption, XRD, XPS and TEM. The results confirmed that the MoP phase was formed on all the catalysts and the physicochemical properties of the samples influenced the performance for sulfur‐resistant methanation.     

磷化过程对MoP催化剂醋酸加氢合成乙醇性能的影响

制备了系列磷化钼催化剂用于醋酸加氢合成乙醇活性评价,并采用XRD、XPS和SEM等技术对催化剂进行表征。结果表明,催化剂除含有MoP外,还有MoP_2O_7和MoO_2等物种,催化醋酸生成乙醇的活性物种是MoP,或者是MoP与MoP_2O_7、MoO_2协同起催化作用。磷化温度一定程度上影响催化剂的形成和活性组分的分布,磷化温度太低,MoP形成量少,磷化温度太高,MoP发生团聚和烧结,磷化温度为650℃时制备的催化剂活性最高。磷钼物质的量比为1.0时催化剂的乙醇合成性能最高。     

Synergistically Interactive Pyridinic‐N–MoP Sites: Identified Active Centers for Enhanced Hydrogen Evolution in Alkaline Solution

For electrocatalysts for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER), encapsulating transition metal phosphides (TMPs) into nitrogen‐doped carbon materials has been known as an effective strategy to elevate the activity and stability. Yet still, it remains unclear how the TMPs work synergistically with the N‐doped support, and which N configuration (pyridinic N, pyrrolic N, or graphitic N) contributes predominantly to the synergy. Here we present a HER electrocatalyst (denoted as MoP@NCHSs) comprising MoP nanoparticles encapsulated in N‐doped carbon hollow spheres, which displays excellent activity and stability for HER in alkaline media. Results of experimental investigations and theoretical calculations indicate that the synergy between MoP and the pyridinic N can most effectively promote the HER in alkaline media.     

An Efficient,Visible‐Light‐Driven,Hydrogen Evolution Catalyst NiS/ZnxCd1−xS Nanocrystal Derived from a Metal–Organic Framework

Photocatalytic water splitting for hydrogen production using sustainable sunlight is a promising alternative to industrial hydrogen production. However, the scarcity of highly active, recyclable, inexpensive photocatalysts impedes the development of photocatalytic hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) schemes. Herein, a metal–organic framework (MOF)‐template strategy was developed to prepare non‐noble metal co‐catalyst/solid solution heterojunction NiS/Zn_xCd_1−xS with superior photocatalytic HER activity. By adjusting the doping metal concentration in MOFs, the chemical compositions and band gaps of the heterojunctions can be fine‐tuned, and the light absorption capacity and photocatalytic activity were further optimized. NiS/Zn_0.5Cd_0.5S exhibits an optimal HER rate of 16.78 mmol g⁻¹ h⁻¹ and high stability and recyclability under visible‐light irradiation (λ>420 nm). Detailed characterizations and in‐depth DFT calculations reveal the relationship between the heterojunction and photocatalytic activity and confirm the importance of NiS in accelerating the water dissociation kinetics, which is a crucial factor for photocatalytic HER.     

An Efficient,Visible‐Light‐Driven,Hydrogen Evolution Catalyst NiS/ZnxCd1−xS Nanocrystal Derived from a Metal–Organic Framework

Photocatalytic water splitting for hydrogen production using sustainable sunlight is a promising alternative to industrial hydrogen production. However, the scarcity of highly active, recyclable, inexpensive photocatalysts impedes the development of photocatalytic hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) schemes. Herein, a metal–organic framework (MOF)‐template strategy was developed to prepare non‐noble metal co‐catalyst/solid solution heterojunction NiS/Zn_xCd_1?xS with superior photocatalytic HER activity. By adjusting the doping metal concentration in MOFs, the chemical compositions and band gaps of the heterojunctions can be fine‐tuned, and the light absorption capacity and photocatalytic activity were further optimized. NiS/Zn_0.5Cd_0.5S exhibits an optimal HER rate of 16.78 mmol g^?1 h^?1 and high stability and recyclability under visible‐light irradiation (λ>420 nm). Detailed characterizations and in‐depth DFT calculations reveal the relationship between the heterojunction and photocatalytic activity and confirm the importance of NiS in accelerating the water dissociation kinetics, which is a crucial factor for photocatalytic HER.     

Ultrafine Molybdenum Carbide Nanoparticles Composited with Carbon as a Highly Active Hydrogen‐Evolution Electrocatalyst

The replacement of platinum with non‐precious‐metal electrocatalysts with high efficiency and superior stability for the hydrogen‐evolution reaction (HER) remains a great challenge. Herein, we report the one‐step synthesis of uniform, ultrafine molybdenum carbide (Mo₂C) nanoparticles (NPs) within a carbon matrix from inexpensive starting materials (dicyanamide and ammonium molybdate). The optimized catalyst consisting of Mo₂C NPs with sizes lower than 3 nm encapsulated by ultrathin graphene shells (ca. 1–3 layers) showed superior HER activity in acidic media, with a very low onset potential of ?6 mV, a small Tafel slope of 41 mV dec^?1, and a large exchange current density of 0.179 mA cm^?2, as well as good stability during operation for 12 h. These excellent properties are similar to those of state‐of‐the‐art 20 % Pt/C and make the catalyst one of the most active acid‐stable electrocatalysts ever reported for HER.     

Modular Design of Noble‐Metal‐Free Mixed Metal Oxide Electrocatalysts for Complete Water Splitting

Electrocatalytic water splitting into H₂ and O₂ is a key technology for carbon‐neutral energy. Here, we report a modular materials design leading to noble metal‐free composite electrocatalysts, which combine high electrical conductivity, high OER and HER reactivity and high durability. The scalable bottom‐up fabrication allows the stable deposition of mixed metal oxide nanostructures with different functionalities on copper foam electrodes. The composite catalyst shows sustained OER and HER activity in 0.1 m aqueous KOH over prolonged periods (t>10 h) at low overpotentials (OER: ≈300 mV; HER: ≈100 mV) and high faradaic efficiencies (OER: ≈100 %, HER: ≈98 %). The new synthetic concept will enable the development of multifunctional, mixed metal oxide composites as high‐performance electrocatalysts for challenging energy conversion and storage reactions.     

磷化钼基催化剂的制备及其电解水中的应用

以十二胺插层的正交三氧化钼为前驱体,次磷酸钠分解产生的PH3作为磷源,在限域的空间内通过原位碳化磷化法,合成了"N掺杂MoP/石墨"复合材料.通过扫描电子显微镜(SEM)、透射电子显微镜(TEM)、X射线衍射(XRD)、X射线光电子能谱分析(XPS)、拉曼光谱分析(Raman)和比表面积测试法(BET)等手段对700、...     

Prussian Blue‐Derived Iron Phosphide Nanoparticles in a Porous Graphene Aerogel as Efficient Electrocatalyst for Hydrogen Evolution Reaction

Tailoring of new hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) electrocatalyst with earth abundant elements is important for large scale water splitting and hydrogen production. In this work, we present a simple synthetic method for incorporating iron phosphide (FeP) particles into three‐dimensional (3D) porous graphene aerogel (GA) structure. The FeP formed in porous 3D GA (FeP/GA) is derived from electroactive Fe hexacyanoferrate (FeHCF). The advantage of incorporating FeP, in the porous 3D graphene network enables high accessibility for HER. As synthesized FeP/GA catalyst shows good electrocatalytic activity for HER in both acidic and alkaline solutions. The developed method can be useful for synthesizing metal hexacyanoferrate derived mono/bimetal phosphide catalyst in porous 3D graphene aerogels.     

One‐Step Synthesis of Self‐Supported Nickel Phosphide Nanosheet Array Cathodes for Efficient Electrocatalytic Hydrogen Generation

Nickel phosphide is an emerging low‐cost, earth‐abundant catalyst that can efficiently reduce water to generate hydrogen. However, the synthesis of nickel phosphide catalysts usually involves multiple steps and is laborious. Herein, a convenient and straightforward approach to the synthesis of a three‐dimensional (3D) self‐supported biphasic Ni₅P₄‐Ni₂P nanosheet (NS) array cathode is presented, which is obtained by direct phosphorization of commercially available nickel foam using phosphorus vapor. The synthesized 3D Ni₅P₄‐Ni₂P‐NS array cathode exhibits outstanding electrocatalytic activity and long‐term durability toward the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) in acidic medium. The fabrication procedure reported here is scalable, showing substantial promise for use in water electrolysis. More importantly, the approach can be readily extended to synthesize other self‐supported transition metal phosphide HER cathodes.     

High Catalytic Activity of Nitrogen and Sulfur Co‐Doped Nanoporous Graphene in the Hydrogen Evolution Reaction

Chemical doping has been demonstrated to be an effective way to realize new functions of graphene as metal‐free catalyst in energy‐related electrochemical reactions. Although efficient catalysis for the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) has been achieved with doped graphene, its performance in the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) is rather poor. In this study we report that nitrogen and sulfur co‐doping leads to high catalytic activity of nanoporous graphene in HER at low operating potential, comparable to the best Pt‐free HER catalyst, 2D MoS₂. The interplay between the chemical dopants and geometric lattice defects of the nanoporous graphene plays the fundamental role in the superior HER catalysis.     

A First‐Principle Calculation of Sulfur Oxidation on Metallic Ni(111) and Pt(111), and Bimetallic Ni@Pt(111) and Pt@Ni(111) Surfaces

Sulfur, a pollutant known to poison fuel‐cell electrodes, generally comes from S‐containing species such as hydrogen sulfide (H₂S). The S‐containing species become adsorbed on a metal electrode and leave atomic S strongly bound to the metal surface. This surface sulfur is completely removed typically by oxidation with O₂ into gaseous SO₂. According to our DFT calculations, the oxidation of sulfur at 0.25 ML surface sulfur coverage on pure Pt(111) and Ni(111) metal surfaces is exothermic. The barriers to the formation of SO₂ are 0.41 and 1.07 eV, respectively. Various metals combined to form bimetallic surfaces are reported to tune the catalytic capabilities toward some reactions. Our results show that it is more difficult to remove surface sulfur from a Ni@Pt(111) surface with reaction barrier 1.86 eV for SO₂ formation than from a Pt@Ni(111) surface (0.13 eV). This result is in good agreement with the statement that bimetallic surfaces could demonstrate more or less activity than to pure metal surfaces by comparing electronic and structural effects. Furthermore, by calculating the reaction free energies we found that the sulfur oxidation reaction on the Pt@Ni(111) surface exhibits the best spontaneity of SO₂ desorption at either room temperature or high temperatures.     

Activating Inert Metallic Compounds for High‐Rate Lithium–Sulfur Batteries Through In Situ Etching of Extrinsic Metal

Surface reactions constitute the foundation of various energy conversion/storage technologies, such as the lithium–sulfur (Li‐S) batteries. To expedite surface reactions for high‐rate battery applications demands in‐depth understanding of reaction kinetics and rational catalyst design. Now an in situ extrinsic‐metal etching strategy is used to activate an inert monometal nitride of hexagonal Ni₃N through iron‐incorporated cubic Ni₃FeN. In situ etched Ni₃FeN regulates polysulfide‐involving surface reactions at high rates. Electron microscopy was used to unveil the mechanism of in situ catalyst transformation. The Li‐S batteries modified with Ni₃FeN exhibited superb rate capability, remarkable cycling stability at a high sulfur loading of 4.8 mg cm^?2, and lean‐electrolyte operability. This work opens up the exploration of multimetallic alloys and compounds as kinetic regulators for high‐rate Li‐S batteries and also elucidates catalytic surface reactions and the role of defect chemistry.     

Carbon‐Incorporated Nickel–Cobalt Mixed Metal Phosphide Nanoboxes with Enhanced Electrocatalytic Activity for Oxygen Evolution

Hollow nanostructures have attracted increasing research interest in electrochemical energy storage and conversion owing to their unique structural features. However, the synthesis of hollow nanostructured metal phosphides, especially nonspherical hollow nanostructures, is rarely reported. Herein, we develop a metal–organic framework (MOF)‐based strategy to synthesize carbon incorporated Ni–Co mixed metal phosphide nanoboxes (denoted as NiCoP/C). The oxygen evolution reaction (OER) is selected as a demonstration to investigate the electrochemical performance of the NiCoP/C nanoboxes. For comparison, Ni–Co layered double hydroxide (Ni–Co LDH) and Ni–Co mixed metal phosphide (denoted as NiCoP) nanoboxes have also been synthesized. Benefiting from their structural and compositional merits, the as‐synthesized NiCoP/C nanoboxes exhibit excellent electrocatalytic activity and long‐term stability for OER.     

Efficient Hydrogen Oxidation Catalyzed by Strain‐Engineered Nickel Nanoparticles

The hydroxide‐exchange membrane fuel cell (HEMFC) is a promising energy conversion device. However, the development of HEMFC is hampered by the lack of platinum‐group‐metal‐free (PGM‐free) electrocatalysts for the hydrogen oxidation reaction (HOR). Now, a Ni catalyst is reported that exhibits the highest mass activity in HOR for a PGM‐free catalyst as well as excellent activity in the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). This catalyst, Ni‐H₂‐2 %, was optimized through pyrolysis of a Ni‐containing metal‐organic framework precursor under a mixed N₂/H₂ atmosphere, which yielded carbon‐supported Ni nanoparticles with different levels of strains. The Ni‐H₂‐2 % catalyst has an optimal level of strain, which leads to an optimal hydrogen binding energy and a high number of active sites.     

Synergistically Interactive Pyridinic-N–MoP Sites: Identified Active Centers for Enhanced Hydrogen Evolution in Alkaline Solution

For electrocatalysts for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER), encapsulating transition metal phosphides (TMPs) into nitrogen-doped carbon materials has been known as an effective strategy to elevate the activity and stability. Yet still, it remains unclear how the TMPs work synergistically with the N-doped support, and which N configuration (pyridinic N, pyrrolic N, or graphitic N) contributes predominantly to the synergy. Here we present a HER electrocatalyst (denoted as MoP@NCHSs) comprising MoP nanoparticles encapsulated in N-doped carbon hollow spheres, which displays excellent activity and stability for HER in alkaline media. Results of experimental investigations and theoretical calculations indicate that the synergy between MoP and the pyridinic N can most effectively promote the HER in alkaline media.     

Covalent Photosensitizer–Polyoxometalate‐Catalyst Dyads for Visible‐Light‐Driven Hydrogen Evolution

A general concept for the covalent linkage of coordination compounds to bipyridine‐functionalized polyoxometalates is presented. The new route is used to link an iridium photosensitizer to an Anderson‐type hydrogen‐evolution catalyst. This covalent dyad catalyzes the visible‐light‐driven hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and shows superior HER activity compared with the non‐covalent reference. Hydrogen evolution is observed over periods >1 week. Spectroscopic, photophysical, and electrochemical analyses give initial insight into the stability, electronic structure, and reactivity of the dyad. The results demonstrate that the proposed linkage concept allows synergistic covalent interactions between functional coordination compounds and reactive molecular metal oxides.     

CO adsorption on highly dispersed MoP/Al2O3 prepared with citric acid

Calorimetry of CO adsorption was used for the first time to study the surface properties of alumina-supported molybdenum phosphide (MoP/Al₂O₃). To increase the dispersion of MoP active sites, the sample was prepared by novel citric acid-temperature programmed reduction (CA-TPR) method. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) of CO adsorption confirmed the formation of MoP by CA-TPR method. The calorimetry results proved that the novel method increased the amounts of active sites and led to the formation of a highly dispersed alumina-supported MoP, but the adsorption heat and the active sites distribution were not much affected by the preparation method. Furthermore, the energetic distribution of active sites depended on the MoP loading.     

Highly Stable,Water‐Dispersible Metal‐Nanoparticle‐Decorated Polymer Nanocapsules and Their Catalytic Applications

A facile synthesis of highly stable, water‐dispersible metal‐nanoparticle‐decorated polymer nanocapsules (M@CB‐PNs: M=Pd, Au, and Pt) was achieved by a simple two‐step process employing a polymer nanocapsule (CB‐PN) made of cucurbit[6]uril (CB[6]) and metal salts. The CB‐PN serves as a versatile platform where various metal nanoparticles with a controlled size can be introduced on the surface and stabilized to prepare new water‐dispersible nanostructures useful for many applications. The Pd nanoparticles on CB‐PN exhibit high stability and dispersibility in water as well as excellent catalytic activity and recyclability in carbon–carbon and carbon–nitrogen bond‐forming reactions in aqueous medium suggesting potential applications as a green catalyst.