Atomically Dispersed FeN2P2 Motif with High Activity and Stability for Oxygen Reduction Reaction Over the Entire pH Range

The past decade has witnessed the great potential of Fe-based single-atom electrocatalysis in catalyzing oxygen reduction reaction (ORR). However, it remains a grand challenge to substantially improve their intrinsic activity and long-term stability in acidic electrolytes. Herein, we report a facile chemical vapor deposition strategy, by which high-density Fe atoms (3.97 wt%) are coordinated with square-planar para-positioned nitrogen and phosphorus atoms in a hierarchical carbon framework. The as-crafted atomically dispersed Fe catalyst (denoted Fe-SA/PNC) manifests an outstanding activity towards ORR over the entire pH range. Specifically, the half-wave potential of 0.92 V, 0.83 V, and 0.86 V vs. reversible hydrogen electrode (RHE) are attained in alkaline, neutral, and acidic electrolytes, respectively, representing the high performance among reported catalysts to date. Furthermore, after 30,000 durability cycles, the Fe-SA/PNC remains to be stable with no visible performance decay when tested in 0.1 M KOH and 0.5 M H₂SO₄, and only a minor negative shift of 40 mV detected in 0.1 M HClO₄, significantly outperforming commercial Pt/C counterpart. The coordination motif of Fe-SA/PNC is validated by density functional theory (DFT) calculations. This work provides atomic-level insight into improving the activity and stability of non-noble metal ORR catalysts, opening up an avenue to craft the desired single-atom electrocatalysts.     

A Bimetallic Zn/Fe Polyphthalocyanine‐Derived Single‐Atom Fe‐N4 Catalytic Site:A Superior Trifunctional Catalyst for Overall Water Splitting and Zn–Air Batteries

Developing an efficient single‐atom material (SAM) synthesis and exploring the energy‐related catalytic reaction are important but still challenging. A polymerization–pyrolysis–evaporation (PPE) strategy was developed to synthesize N‐doped porous carbon (NPC) with anchored atomically dispersed Fe‐N₄ catalytic sites. This material was derived from predesigned bimetallic Zn/Fe polyphthalocyanine. Experiments and calculations demonstrate the formed Fe‐N₄ site exhibits superior trifunctional electrocatalytic performance for oxygen reduction, oxygen evolution, and hydrogen evolution reactions. In overall water splitting and rechargeable Zn–air battery devices containing the Fe‐N₄ SAs/NPC catalyst, it exhibits high efficiency and extraordinary stability. This current PPE method is a general strategy for preparing M SAs/NPC (M=Co, Ni, Mn), bringing new perspectives for designing various SAMs for catalytic application.     

Ordered mesoporous carbon fiber bundles with high-density and accessible Fe-NX active sites as efficient ORR catalysts for Zn-air batteries

Fe-N_X/C electrocatalysts have aroused extensive interest in accelerating sluggish oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) kinetics as potential alternatives to platinum catalysts in rechargeable Zn-air batteries (ZABs). However, the low density and poor accessibility of Fe-N_X sites have severely restricted the electrocatalytic performance of Fe-N_X/C. Herein, Fe, N co-doped ordered mesoporous carbon fiber bundles are prepared through a ligand-assisted strategy with nitrogen-rich 1,10-phenanthroline as space isolation agent. 1,10-Phenanthroline reveals a six-membered heterocyclic structure containing abundant nitrogen species to tightly coordinate with Fe ions, which is conducive to achieving high-density Fe-N_X sites. Meanwhile, the adoption of SBA-15 as hard-templates enables the catalysts with highly ordered channels and large specific surface areas, improving the accessibility of Fe-N_X sites. The optimal catalyst (PDA-Fe-900) demonstrates a positive half-wave potential of 0.84 V (vs. RHE) in alkaline solution, outperforming the commercial Pt/C (0.83 V). In addition, PDA-Fe-900 delivers comparable ORR performance to commercial Pt/C in acidic electrolyte. Impressively, when PDA-Fe-900 is employed as an air cathode, it achieves large power densities of 163.0 mW/cm² in liquid-state ZAB and 116.6 mW/cm² in the flexible solid-state ZAB. This work provides an efficient ligand-assisted pathway for fabricating catalysts with dense and accessible Fe-N_X sites as high-performance ORR electrocatalysts for ZABs.     

Modulating Electronic Structures of Iron Clusters through Orbital Rehybridization by Adjacent Single Copper Sites for Efficient Oxygen Reduction

The atom-cluster interaction has recently been exploited as an effective way to increase the performance of metal-nitrogen-carbon catalysts for oxygen reduction reaction (ORR). However, the rational design of such catalysts and understanding their structure-property correlations remain a great challenge. Herein, we demonstrate that the introduction of adjacent metal (M)−N₄ single atoms (SAs) could significantly improve the ORR performance of a well-screened Fe atomic cluster (AC) catalyst by combining density functional theory (DFT) calculations and experimental analysis. The DFT studies suggest that the Cu−N₄ SAs act as a modulator to assist the O₂ adsorption and cleavage of O−O bond on the Fe AC active center, as well as optimize the release of OH* intermediates to accelerate the whole ORR kinetic. The depositing of Fe AC with Cu−N₄ SAs on nitrogen doped mesoporous carbon nanosheet are then constructed through a universal interfacial monomicelles assembly strategy. Consistent with theoretical predictions, the resultant catalyst exhibits an outstanding ORR performance with a half-wave potential of 0.92 eV in alkali and 0.80 eV in acid, as well as a high power density of 214.8 mW cm⁻² in zinc air battery. This work provides a novel strategy for precisely tuning the atomically dispersed poly-metallic centers for electrocatalysis.     

Non-planar Nest-like [Fe2S2] Cluster Sites for Efficient Oxygen Reduction Catalysis

Metal-nitrogen-carbon catalysts, as promising alternative to platinum-based catalysts for oxygen reduction reaction (ORR), are still highly expected to achieve better performance by modulating the composition and spatial structure of active site. Herein, we constructed the non-planar nest-like [Fe₂S₂] cluster sites in N-doped carbon plane. Adjacent double Fe atoms effectively weaken the O−O bond by forming a peroxide bridge-like adsorption configuration, and the introduction of S atoms breaks the planar coordination of Fe resulting in greater structural deformation tension, lower spin state, and downward shifted Fe d-band center, which together facilitate the release of OH* intermediate. Hence, the non-planar [Fe₂S₂] cluster catalyst, with a half-wave potential of 0.92 V, displays superior ORR activity than that of planar [FeN₄] or [Fe₂N₆]. This work provides insights into the co-regulation of atomic composition and spatial configuration for efficient oxygen reduction catalysis.     

Atomically Dispersed Iron Regulating Electronic Structure of Iron Atom Clusters for Electrocatalytic H2O2 Production and Biomass Upgrading

The integration of highly active single atoms (SAs) and atom clusters (ACs) into an electrocatalyst is critically important for high-efficiency two-electron oxygen reduction reaction (2e⁻ ORR) to hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂). Here we report a tandem impregnation-pyrolysis-etching strategy to fabricate the oxygen-coordinated Fe SAs and ACs anchored on bacterial cellulose-derived carbon (BCC) (FeSAs/ACs-BCC). As the electrocatalyst, FeSAs/ACs-BCC exhibits superior electrocatalytic activity and selectivity toward 2e⁻ ORR, affording an onset potential of 0.78 V (vs. RHE) and a high H₂O₂ selectivity of 96.5 % in 0.1 M KOH. In a flow cell reactor, the FeSAs/ACs-BCC also achieves high-efficiency H₂O₂ production with a yield rate of 12.51±0.18 mol g_cat⁻¹ h⁻¹ and a faradaic efficiency of 89.4 %±1.3 % at 150 mA cm⁻². Additionally, the feasibility of coupling the produced H₂O₂ and electro-Fenton process for the valorization of ethylene glycol was explored in detail. The theoretical calculations uncover that the oxygen-coordinated Fe SAs effectively regulate the electronic structure of Fe ACs which are the 2e⁻ ORR active sites, resulting in the optimal binding strength of *OOH intermediate for high-efficiency H₂O₂ production.     

Modulating Coordination of Iron Atom Clusters on N,P,S Triply-Doped Hollow Carbon Support towards Enhanced Electrocatalytic Oxygen Reduction

Constructing atom-clusters (ACs) with in situ modulation of coordination environment and simultaneously hollowing carbon support are critical yet challenging for improving electrocatalytic efficiency of atomically dispersed catalysts (ADCs). Herein, a general diffusion-controlled strategy based on spatial confining and Kirkendall effect is proposed to construct metallic ACs in N,P,S triply-doped hollow carbon matrix (M_ACs/NPS−HC, M=Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Cu). Thereinto, Fe_ACs/NPS−HC with the best catalytic activity for oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) is thoroughly investigated. Unlike the benchmark sample of symmetrical N-surrounded iron single-atoms in N-doped carbon (Fe_SAs/N−C), Fe_ACs/NPS−HC comprises bi-/tri-atomic Fe centers with engineered S/N coordination. Theoretical calculation reveals that proper Fe gathering and coordination modulation could mildly delocalize the electron distribution and optimize the free energy pathways of ORR. In addition, the triple doping and hollow structure of carbon matrix could further regulate the local environment and allow sufficient exposure of active sites, resulting in more enhanced ORR kinetics on Fe_ACs/NPS−HC. The zinc-air battery assembled with Fe_ACs/NPS−HC as cathodic catalyst exhibits all-round superiority to Pt/C and most Fe-based ADCs. This work provides an exemplary method for establishing atomic-cluster catalysts with engineered S-dominated coordination and hollowed carbon matrix, which paves a new avenue for the fabrication and optimization of advanced ADCs.     

碳辅助金属配合物热解法制备高含量Fe-N4单原子催化剂用于氧还原反应

单原子催化剂凭借其超高的原子利用率及在某些反应中表现出的出色催化效果,被认为是最有前途的电催化剂之一,引起了研究人员的极大热情和兴趣.制备高金属含量的单原子催化剂是基础研究和实际应用的前提和关键.然而,由于原子表面自由能随着尺寸的减小而急剧增加,在制备和催化过程中,单原子催化剂的金属原子很容易聚集成团簇甚至颗粒,因此如何制备高负载量的单原子催化剂仍然是一个不小的挑战.在众多单原子催化剂中,非贵金属中铁基单原子被认为是燃料电池中的Pt催化剂的有效替代品.在燃料电池的核心反应–电化学氧还原反应中,Fe-N_x被证明是铁单原子催化剂中的主要活性中心.因此,为了获得更好的氧还原性能,提高铁单原子催化剂中Fe-N_x的含量就显得非常关键.前期已报道了一些关于制备高Fe含量的铁单原子催化剂材料的策略,例如空间限域策略和配位合成策略.其中卟啉和葡萄糖作为配位剂,双氰胺和三聚氰胺可热解成氮掺杂碳材料以捕获金属原子,形成M-N_x.同时,具有高比表面积的富氧碳载体可以通过掺杂氮来作为固定金属原子的位点.我们开发了一种简单直接的方法,通过碳辅助金属配合物热解法制备高金属含量的Fe-N4单原子催化剂,即在最佳碳化温度800℃、三聚氰胺存在下对氮掺杂多孔碳辅助分散铁邻苯二胺配合物进行热解.在该方法中,氮掺杂多孔碳是一种具有丰富氮缺陷,高表面积(1267 m²?g^–1)和良好分散性的多孔生物质碳材料.邻苯二胺作为含两个氨基的二齿配体,可以很容易地与过渡金属配位,形成稳定的平面四配位络合物.此外,由于在高温条件下过渡金属的催化作用,邻苯二胺也被用作氮掺杂碳的前体.因此,氮掺杂多孔碳和邻苯二胺是合成高金属含量铁单原子催化剂的关键前驱体.通过X射线光电子能谱,大角度环形暗场扫描透射电子显微镜和X射线吸收精细结构光谱表征,发现所制备的铁单原子催化剂中铁原子以单个原子的形式锚固在碳载体上,并与碳基质的四个掺杂氮原子配位,得到Fe-N₄的构型.通过调节Fe前驱体量,铁单原子催化剂中Fe的最高负载量达到7.5 wt%,在目前已经报道的铁单原子催化剂中排第四.电化学氧还原测试表明,在0.10 M KOH溶液中,随着铁含量的增加,铁单原子催化剂的氧还原性能逐渐提高.其中250Fe-SA/NPC-800样品表现出最高起始电位0.97 V和最正的半波电位0.85 V,可与市售的40%Pt/C催化剂相媲美.和已报道的铁单原子催化剂相比,由于我们制得的催化剂的比表面积较低,只有247 m²?g^–1,所以制约了催化剂的性能.在混合动力学势域中,根据Koutecky-Levich方程计算得出的电子转移数约为3.6,表明250Fe-SA/NPC-800主要催化四电子转移过程,这可以归因于以Fe-N₄活性中心降低了四电子过程中关键中间体的形成能垒及过程的自由能变化.此外,250Fe-SA/NPC-800展现了较高的电化学稳定性.连续工作6 h后,250Fe-SA/NPC-800保留了超过87%的电流密度,而Pt/C表现出明显的衰减,仅保留了49%.     

Singlet Oxygen Induced Site-Specific Etching Boosts Nitrogen-Carbon Sites for High-Efficiency Oxygen Reduction

Targeted construction of carbon defects near the N dopants is an intriguing but challenging way to boost the electrocatalytic activity of N-doped carbon toward oxygen reduction reaction (ORR). Here, we report a novel site-specific etching strategy that features targeted anchoring of singlet oxygen (¹O₂) on the N-adjacent atoms to directionally construct topological carbon defects neighboring the N dopants in N-doped carbon (¹O₂−N/C). This ¹O₂−N/C exhibits the highest ORR half-wave potential of 0.915 V_RHE among all the reported metal-free carbon catalysts. Pyridinic-N bonded with a carbon pentagon of the neighboring topological carbon defects is identified as the primary active configuration, rendering enhanced adsorption of O₂, optimized adsorption energy of the ORR intermediates, and a significantly decreased total energy barrier for ORR. This ¹O₂-induced site-specific etching strategy is also applicable to different precursors, showing a tremendous potential for targeted construction of high-efficiency active sites in carbon-based materials.     

Understanding the Activity of Co‐N4−xCx in Atomic Metal Catalysts for Oxygen Reduction Catalysis

Atomic metal catalysis (AMC) provides an effective way to enhance activity for the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR). Cobalt anchored on nitrogen‐doped carbon materials have been extensively reported. The carbon‐hosted Co‐N₄ structure was widely considered as the active site; however, it is very rare to investigate the activity of Co partially coordinated with N, for example, Co‐N_4?xC_x. Herein, the activity of Co‐N_4?xC_x with tunable coordination environment is investigated as the active sites for ORR catalysis. The defect (di‐vacancies) on carbon is essential for the formation of Co‐N_4?xC_x. N species play two important roles in promoting the intrinsic activity of atomic metal catalyst: N coordinated with Co to manipulate the reactivity by modification of electronic distribution and N helped to trap more Co to increase the number of active sites.     

Polymer-chelation approach to high-performance Fe-Nx-C catalyst towards oxygen reduction reaction

Pyrolyzed Fe-N_x-C with atomically dispersed Fe-N_x sites are hailed as the most promising alternative to the noble metal Pt-based catalysts towards oxygen reduction reaction (ORR). However, the conventional micropore-confinement synthetic approach usually causes the insufficient utilization of active sites and mass transport resistance as the sites are located inside the micropore. We herein report a polymer-chelation strategy to directly disperse the Fe-N_x active sites onto the carbon surface. The N-rich monomer was in-situ polymerized on the carbon support and then chelated with Fe. The strong Fe-N chelating interaction is crucial to suppress Fe aggregation when undergoing the high-temperature pyrolysis. Due to the enriched surface sites, hierarchically porous structure and excellent conductivity of carbon support, the optimal catalyst (denoted as Fe-N_x-C@C-900) exhibits impressive ORR activity of onset and half-wave potential of 1.02 and 0.87 V, respectively, superior to the Pt/C benchmark.     

碳模板诱导生长Fe-Nx活性位点

能源危机和环境恶化是当今社会面临的巨大挑战. 燃料电池作为一种高效、清洁的发电装置,受到了社会各界特别是新能源行业的高度关注. 尤其是, 日本丰田推出Mirai燃料电池汽车量产上市计划, 把燃料电池及其关键技术发展推向了一个新的发展纪元. 然而, 制约燃料电池走向大规模商业化的核心问题依然是其综合性能不具竞争力. 其中, 氧电极的缓慢动力学以及贵金属Pt的有限资源、高昂成本等是关键所在, 因此, 亟待实现高性能非贵金属催化剂的突破.近年来, 大量研究表明, Fe-Nx掺杂的碳催化剂具有极大的代Pt潜力, 研究者们尝试各种手段进行开发,如: 调控Fe化合物及N前驱体的类型与添加量, 改变温度、压力等合成条件, 采用轴向配位体连接、共价接枝、球磨等非热解路线, 构建核壳、有序介孔碳、阵列、类石墨烯薄片、多孔碳等碳纳米结构, 制备石墨烯/碳纳米管、石墨烯/碳黑、碳纳米带/碳纳米管、碳纳米颗粒/碳纤维、碳球/碳纳米管/石墨烯等复合材料, 进行酸洗、造孔、二次加热等后处理, 调控不同类型Fe物种相生成等. 此外, EXAFS及M?ssbauer等谱学技术已经证实Fe-Nx特别是Fe-N4为强活性位点. 因此, 有待提出合理策略以促进非贵金属碳催化剂中Fe-Nx强活性位点的高密度掺杂.本文提出了一种碳模板诱导Fe-Nx活性位点生长的方法即通过高温热解含有Fe盐的三聚氰胺前驱体混合物, 成功制备 了Fe-Nx掺杂的碳催化剂, 并结合多种表征技术证实了碳模板对制备碳催化剂结构组成及电化学性能的影响. 形貌结果说明, 碳模板的引入有利于Fe、N化合物的均匀吸附以至于Fe基纳米颗粒的均一成核, 促使竹状碳纳米管在碳模板表面以及中间均一生长; 氮气吸脱附及孔径分布曲线显示, 引入碳模板形成的复合材料较单一的碳纳米管和碳黑材料具有提高的比表面积和总孔体积, 说明复合材料中存在两种单体的有效协同; M?ssbauer、XPS及XRD测试数据证实, 碳模板可以调控Fe、N两种元素的耦合方式, 能够抑制金属Fe和Fe碳化物等非活性Fe物种的生成、诱导Fe-N4和其它Fe氮化物等强活性Fe-Nx物种的生长. 电化学测试数据表明, 复合材料具有提升的面积活性和质量活性, 且TOF值明显提高, 说明碳模板的引入增强了Fe-Nx位点的本征活性; 此外, 复合材料的氧还原过程为高效的4e-途径, 且较商业Pt/C催化剂表现出了优异的循环稳定性和甲醇耐受性.     

Efficient and Robust Hydrogen Evolution: Phosphorus Nitride Imide Nanotubes as Supports for Anchoring Single Ruthenium Sites

Amorphous phosphorus nitride imide nanotubes (HPN) are reported as a novel substrate to stabilize materials containing single‐metal sites. Abundant dangling unsaturated P vacancies play a role in stabilization. Ruthenium single atoms (SAs) are successfully anchored by strong coordination interactions between the d orbitals of Ru and the lone pair electrons of N located in the HPN matrix. The atomic dispersion of Ru atoms can be distinguished by X‐ray absorption fine structure measurements and spherical aberration correction electron microscopy. Importantly, Ru SAs@PN is an excellent electrocatalyst for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) in 0.5 m H₂SO₄, delivering a low overpotential of 24 mV at 10 mA cm^?2 and a Tafel slope of 38 mV dec^?1. The catalyst exhibits robust stability in a constant current test at a large current density of 162 mA cm^?2 for more than 24 hours, and is operative for 5000 cycles in a cyclic voltammetry test. Additionally, Ru SAs@PN presents a turnover frequency (TOF) of 1.67 H₂ s^?1 at 25 mV, and 4.29 H₂ s^?1 at 50 mV, in 0.5 m H₂SO₄ solution, outperforming most of the reported hydrogen evolution catalysts. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations further demonstrate that the Gibbs free energy of adsorbed H* over the Ru SAs on PN is much closer to zero compared with the Ru/C and Ru SAs supported on carbon and C₃N₄, thus considerably facilitating the overall HER performance.     

Fe3C coupled with Fe-Nx supported on N-doped carbon as oxygen reduction catalyst for assembling Zn-air battery to drive water splitting

Fe-N-C structures have been considered as a candidate to replace noble metal catalysts towards oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) due to their excellent electrocatalytic activity and durability. Herein, a zinc-mediated synthesis strategy is proposed for N-doped graphitic porous carbon encapsulated uniform dispersed Fe₃C nanoparticles coupled with atomically dispersed Fe-N_x moieties (NPC/Fe-N-C) derived from biomass coconut shell. The introduction of zinc species could be conductive to the dispersion of iron species and formation of porous structures. Density functional theory calculations demonstrate that the N-doped carbon coating structures can weaken the oxygen intermediates adsorption energy barrier of Fe₃C. Beside, the graphitic carbon could promote the electron transfer during the electrochemical reaction. These special structures enable NPC/Fe-N-C to have excellent ORR activity with an E_onset of 1.0 V, which is much better than Pt/C. Furthermore, the zinc-air battery assembled by pairing NPC/Fe-N-C with a high-efficiency oxygen evolution reaction (OER) catalyst can continuously and stably operate a charge-discharge potential gap of 0.8 V at 10 mA/cm² for more than 600 h. More importantly, the assembled batteries could drive overall water splitting device, realizing the effective energy conversion.     

Carbon‐Supported Divacancy‐Anchored Platinum Single‐Atom Electrocatalysts with Superhigh Pt Utilization for the Oxygen Reduction Reaction

Maximizing the platinum utilization in electrocatalysts toward oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) is very desirable for large‐scale sustainable application of Pt in energy systems. A cost‐effective carbon‐supported carbon‐defect‐anchored platinum single‐atom electrocatalysts (Pt₁/C) with remarkable ORR performance is reported. An acidic H₂/O₂ single cell with Pt₁/C as cathode delivers a maximum power density of 520 mW cm^?2 at 80 °C, corresponding to a superhigh platinum utilization of 0.09 g_Pt kW^?1. Further physical characterization and density functional theory computations reveal that single Pt atoms anchored stably by four carbon atoms in carbon divacancies (Pt‐C₄) are the main active centers for the observed high ORR performance.     

A “Pre-Division Metal Clusters” Strategy to Mediate Efficient Dual-Active Sites ORR Catalyst for Ultralong Rechargeable Zn-Air Battery

To conquer the bottleneck of sluggish kinetics in cathodic oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) of metal-air batteries, catalysts with dual-active centers have stood out. Here, a “pre-division metal clusters” strategy is firstly conceived to fabricate a N,S-dual doped honeycomb-like carbon matrix inlaid with CoN₄ sites and wrapped Co₂P nanoclusters as dual-active centers (Co₂P/CoN₄@NSC-500). A crystalline {Co^II ₂ } coordination cluster divided by periphery second organic layers is well-designed to realize delocalized dispersion before calcination. The optimal Co₂P/CoN₄@NSC-500 executes excellent 4e⁻ ORR activity surpassing the benchmark Pt/C. Theoretical calculation results reveal that the CoN₄ sites and Co₂P nanoclusters can synergistically quicken the formation of *OOH on Co sites. The rechargeable Zn-air battery (ZAB) assembled by Co₂P/CoN₄@NSC-500 delivers ultralong cycling stability over 1742 hours (3484 cycles) under 5 mA cm⁻² and can light up a 2.4 V LED bulb for ≈264 hours, evidencing the promising practical application potentials in portable devices.     

Construction of Co4 Atomic Clusters to Enable Fe−N4 Motifs with Highly Active and Durable Oxygen Reduction Performance

Fe−N−C catalysts with single-atom Fe−N₄ configurations are highly needed owing to the high activity for oxygen reduction reaction (ORR). However, the limited intrinsic activity and dissatisfactory durability have significantly restrained the practical application of proton-exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs). Here, we demonstrate that constructing adjacent metal atomic clusters (ACs) is effective in boosting the ORR performance and stability of Fe−N₄ catalysts. The integration of Fe−N₄ configurations with highly uniform Co₄ ACs on the N-doped carbon substrate (Co₄@/Fe₁@NC) is realized through a “pre-constrained” strategy using Co₄ molecular clusters and Fe(acac)₃ implanted carbon precursors. The as-developed Co₄@/Fe₁@NC catalyst exhibits excellent ORR activity with a half-wave potential (E_1/2) of 0.835 V vs. RHE in acidic media and a high peak power density of 840 mW cm⁻² in a H₂−O₂ fuel cell test. First-principles calculations further clarify the ORR catalytic mechanism on the identified Fe−N₄ that modified with Co₄ ACs. This work provides a viable strategy for precisely establishing atomically dispersed polymetallic centers catalysts for efficient energy-related catalysis.     

Atomically Dispersed Nickel(I) on an Alloy‐Encapsulated Nitrogen‐Doped Carbon Nanotube Array for High‐Performance Electrochemical CO2 Reduction Reaction

Single‐atom catalysts (SACs) show great promise for electrochemical CO₂ reduction reaction (CRR), but the low density of active sites and the poor electrical conduction and mass transport of the single‐atom electrode greatly limit their performance. Herein, we prepared a nickel single‐atom electrode consisting of isolated, high‐density and low‐valent nickel(I) sites anchored on a self‐standing N‐doped carbon nanotube array with nickel–copper alloy encapsulation on a carbon‐fiber paper. The combination of single‐atom nickel(I) sites and self‐standing array structure gives rise to an excellent electrocatalytic CO₂ reduction performance. The introduction of copper tunes the d‐band electron configuration and enhances the adsorption of hydrogen, which impedes the hydrogen evolution reaction. The single‐nickel‐atom electrode exhibits a specific current density of ?32.87 mA cm^?2 and turnover frequency of 1962 h^?1 at a mild overpotential of 620 mV for CO formation with 97 % Faradic efficiency.     

Edge-enriched N,S co-doped hierarchical porous carbon for oxygen reduction reaction

The development of carbon materials with high electrochemical performance for next-generation energy device is emerging, especially N, S co-doped carbon materials have sparked intensive attention. However, the exploration of N, S co-doped carbon with well-defined active sites and hierarchical porous structures are still limited. In this study, we prepared a series of edge-enriched N, S co-doped carbon materials through pyrolysis of thiourea (TU) encapsulated in zeolitic imidazolate frameworks (TU@ZIF) composites, which delivered very good oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) performance in alkaline medium with onset potential of 0.94 V vs. reversible hydrogen electrode (RHE), good stability and methanol tolerance. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations suggested that carbon atoms adjacent to N and S are probable active sites for ORR intermediates in edge-enriched N, S co-doped carbon materials because higher electron density can enhance O₂ adsorption, lower formation barriers of intermediates, improving the ORR performance comparing to intact N, S co-doped carbon materials. This study might provide a new pathway for improving ORR activity by the integration engineering of edge sites, and electronic structure of heteroatom doped carbon electrocatalysts.