Synthesis of dual-doped non-precious metal electrocatalysts and their electrocatalytic activity for oxygen reduction reaction

The pyrolyzed carbon supported ferrum polypyrrole(Fe-N/C) catalysts are synthesized with or without selected dopants, p-toluenesulfonic acid(TsOH), by a facile thermal annealing approach at desired temperature for optimizing their activity for the oxygen reduction reaction(ORR) in O2-saturated 0.1 mol/L KOH solution. The electrochemical techniques such as cyclic voltammetry(CV) and rotating disk electrode(RDE) are employed with the Koutecky-Levich theory to quantitatively obtain the ORR kinetic constants and the reaction mechanisms. It is found that catalysts doped with TsOH show significantly improved ORR activity relative to the TsOH-free one. The average electron transfer numbers for the catalyzed ORR are determined to be 3.899 and 3.098, respectively, for the catalysts with and without TsOH-doping. The heat-treatment is found to be a necessary step for catalyst activity improvement, and the catalyst pyrolyzed at 600℃ gives the best ORR activity. An onset potential and the potential at the current density of-1.5 mA/cm2 for TsOH-doped catalyst after pyrolysis are 30 mV and 170 mV, which are more positive than those without pyrolized. Furthermore, the catalyst doped with TsOH shows higher tolerance to methanol compared with commercial Pt/C catalyst in 0.1 mol/L KOH. To understand this TsOH doping and pyrolyzed effect, X-ray diffraction(XRD), scanning electron microscope(SEM) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy(XPS) are used to characterize these catalysts in terms of their structure and composition. XPS results indicate that the pyrrolic-N groups are the most active sites, a finding that is supported by the correspondence between changes in pyridinic-N content and ORR activity that occur with changing temperature. Sulfur species are also structurally bound to carbon in the forms of C–Sn–C, an additional beneficial factor for the ORR.     

Facile deposition of cobalt oxide based electrocatalyst on low-cost and tin-free electrode for water splitting

Facile deposition of a water-splitting catalyst on low-cost electrode materials could be attractive for hydrogen production from water and solar energy conversion. Herein we describe fast electrodeposition of cobalt-based water oxidation catalyst(Co-WOC) on simple graphite electrode for water splitting. The deposition process is quite fast, which reaches a plateau in less than 75 min and the final current density is～1.8 mA/cm2under the applied potential of 1.31 V at pH = 7.0. The scanning electron microscopy(SEM) study shows the formation of nanometer-sized particles(10-100 nm) on the surface of the electrode after only 2 min and micrometer-sized particles(2-5 μm) after 90 min of electrolysis. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy(XPS) data demonstrate the as-synthesized ex-situ catalyst mainly contains Co2+and Co3+species incorporating a substantial amount of phosphate anions. These experiments suggest that cost-efficient cobalt oxide materials on graphite exhibit alluring ability for water splitting, which might provide a novel method to fabricate low-cost devices for electrochemical energy storage.     

锌活化Fe/Co/N掺杂的生物质碳基高效氧还原催化剂

为了推动清洁能源-燃料电池的广泛应用, 迫切需要研发成本低、 原料来源广泛的过渡金属基高效氧还原反应(ORR)催化材料, 来替代目前使用的贵金属铂基催化材料. 本文以铁和钴等非贵金属离子作为催化材料的主要活性位点, 通过金属-羧基/羟基螯合键原位预锚定在具有三维(3D)孔道结构、 富含羧基和羟基以及极易在水溶液中形成凝胶网络的海洋生物质材料海藻酸钠上, 经冷冻干燥得到气凝胶; 然后通过高温碳化, 得到活性位点均匀分布在具有多级孔结构的碳骨架中的高活性、 高稳定的Co/Zn/Fe/N@bio-C-2氧还原催化剂材料, 该催化剂包含2种不同的铁基活性材料(Fe₂O₃和Fe)以及2种不同的钴基活性材料(CoO和Co).利用硝酸锌作为活化剂来改善催化材料的孔道结构, 使制备碳材料的总面积从149.3 m²/g增加到325.3 m²/g. 通过一系列对比实验发现, Fe/Co双活性位点与合适比表面积的协同作用使得Co/Zn/Fe/N@bio-C-2获得了最佳的ORR催化活性.其在0.1 mol/L KOH溶液中起始电位达到0.99 V, 半波电位可达0.87 V.     

海水电解面临的挑战与机遇：含氯电化学中先进材料研究进展

氢气是一种清洁高效的能源载体,通过海水电解规模化制备氢气能够为应对全球能源挑战提供新的机遇。然而,缺乏高活性、高选择性和高稳定性的理想电极材料是在腐蚀性海水中连续电解过程的一个巨大挑战。为了缓解这一困境,需要从基础理论和实际应用两方面对材料进行深入研究。近年来,人们围绕电极材料的催化活性、选择性和耐腐蚀性进行了大量的探索。本文重点总结了高选择性和强耐腐蚀性材料的设计合成与作用机制。其中详细介绍了多种电极材料(如多金属氧化物、Ni/Fe/Co基复合材料、氧化锰包覆异质结构等)对氧气生成选择性的研究进展;系统论述了各种材料的抗腐蚀工程研究成果,主要讨论了本征抗腐蚀材料、外防护涂层和原位产生抗腐蚀物种三种情况。此外,提出了海水电解过程中存在的挑战和潜在的机遇。先进纳米材料的设计有望为解决海水电解中的氯化学问题提供新思路。     

卟啉-硫醚基共价有机框架材料用于氧还原反应电催化剂

氧还原反应（ORR）是能进行能量存储的核心电化学过程。由于它的动力学速率缓慢,因此亟需制备出高活性的电催化剂来促进这一反应的速率。二维共价有机框架材料（2D COFs）的π-π堆积结构可赋予骨架高导电率,并且一维有序的孔道有利于促进中间反应体传输。因此,其在可再生能源领域中具有良好的应用前景,并有望作为能量存储与转化的强大催化平台。本文通过向2D COFs中引入金属卟啉单元及硫醚单元成功制备了两个2D COFs （JUC-600和JUC-601）。通过多种表征手段证明,这两个2D COFs均具有AA堆积的sql拓扑结构。通过电化学测试表明,Co²⁺配位的JUC-601具有更正的ORR起始电势（0.825 V）和半波电势（0.7 V）、更高的活性表面积（7.8 mF/cm²）,更低的Tafel斜率（58 mV/dec）。这主要是由于JUC-601的高比表面积和高孔隙率使得中间产物能更易在COFs的表面和孔道中接触和传输。此外,Co²⁺-卟啉单元以及硫醚单元的存在使其骨架整体的电子结构发生了变化,更有利于电子转移。这一工作不仅开发了新的二维卟啉-硫醚基COFs材料,同时也拓展了2D COFs材料在电催化领域的应用。     

Highly Active Electrocatalyst Derived from ZIF-8 Decorated with Iron(III) and Cobalt(III) Porphyrin Toward Efficient Oxygen Reduction in Both Alkaline and Acidic Media

Zeolite imidazole frameworks 8(ZIF-8) and modified ones after pyrolysis are highly promising toward oxygen reduction reaction(ORR). Especially, the compositional modification of ZIF-8 is crucial to the enhancement of ORR performance, yet limited to the substitution of skeletal Zn(II) with other cations or simple physical adsorption of cations. Herein, we report the decoration of ZIF-8 with ORR active hemin(FeP) and Co(III) protoporphyrin(CoP) via the coordination between the peripheral carboxylic group of FeP and CoP with skeletal Zn(II). This allows well control over the quantity of loaded FeP and CoP, critical to the synthesis of advanced electrocatalysts. Subsequent pyrolysis of FeP and CoP co-decorated ZIF-8 leads to highly active ORR electrocatalysts with a half-wave potential(E_1/2) of 0. 913 V(vs. RHE) in 0.1 mol/L KOH aq. and an E_1/2 of 0.803 V(vs. RHE) in 0.1 mol/L HClO₄ aq. Moreover, our electrocatalyst shows much more improved and comparable durability in alkaline and acidic media, respectively, during 3000 cycles of cyclic voltammetry(CV) scanning relative to commercial Pt/C.     

Highly Efficient Oxygen Reduction Reaction Fe-N-C Cathode in Long-durable Direct Glycol Fuel Cells

The oxygen reduction reaction in direct glycol fuel cells heavily relies on noble metal-based electrocatalysts. In this work, novel Pt group metal-free catalysts based on porous Fe-N-C materials are successfully synthesized as catalysts with high activity and durability for the cathode oxygen reduction reaction (ORR). Through the encapsulation of NH₄SCN salt, the surface elements and pore structure of the catalyst are effectively changed, and the active sites of Fe effectively are increased. The half-wave potential of the best Fe-N-C catalyst was –0.02 V vs. Hg/HgO in an alkaline environment. The porous Fe-N-C catalyst possesses a large specific surface area(1158 m²/g) and shows good activity and tolerance to glycol. The direct glycol fuel cell with the Fe-N-C cathode achieved a maximum power density of 62.2 mW/cm² with 4 mol/L KOH and 4 mol/L glycol solution at 25 °C and maintained discharge for more than 250 h at a 50 A/cm² current density.     

Regulating the Oxygen Affinity of Single Atom Catalysts by Dual-atom Design for Enhanced Oxygen Reduction Reaction Activity

This work chooses Cu/Fe single-atom catalysts(SACs) with weak/strong oxygen affinity to clarify the effect of dual-atom configuration on oxygen reduction reaction(ORR) performance based on density functional theory(DFT) calculations. The stability and ORR activity of single or dual Cu/Fe atomic sites anchored on nitrogen-doped graphene sheets(Cu-N₄-C, Cu₂-N₆-C, Fe-N₄-C, and Fe₂-N₆-C) are investigated, and the results indicate the dual-atom catalysts(Cu₂-N₆-C and Fe₂-N₆-C) are thermodynamically stable enough to avoid sintering and aggregation. Compared with single-atom active sites of Cu-N₄-C, which show weak oxygen affinity and poor ORR performance with a limiting potential of 0.58 V, the dual-Cu active sites of Cu₂-N₆-C exhibit enhanced ORR activity with a limiting potential up to 0.87 V due to strengthened oxygen affinity. Interestingly, for Fe SACs with strong oxygen affinity, the DFT results show that the dual-Fe sites stabilize the two OH^* ligands structure[Fe₂(OH)₂-N₆-C], which act as the active sites during ORR process, resulting in greatly improved ORR performance with a limiting potential of 0.90 V. This study suggests that the dual-atom design is a potential strategy to improve the ORR performance of SACs, in which the activity of the single atom active sites is limited with weak or strong oxygen affinity.     

电化学合成纳米材料和小分子材料在电解制氢领域的应用

氢气是一种清洁、高效、可再生的新型能源,并且是未来碳中和能源供应中最具潜力的化石燃料替代品。因此,可持续氢能源制造具有极大的吸引力与迫切的需求,尤其是通过清洁、环保、零排放的电解水方法。然而,目前的电解水反应受到其缓慢的动力学以及低成本/能源效率的制约。在这些方面,电化学合成通过制造先进的电催化剂和提供更高效/增值的共电解替代品,为提高水电解的效率和效益提供了广阔的前景。它是一种环保、简单的通过电解或其他电化学操作,对从分子到纳米尺度的材料进行制造的方法。本文首先介绍了电化学合成的基本概念、设计方法以及常用方法。然后,总结了电化学合成技术在电解水领域的应用及进展。我们专注于电化学合成的纳米结构电催化剂以实现更高效的电解水制氢,以及小分子的电化学氧化以取代电解水制氢中的析氧共反应,实现更高效、 增值的共电解制氢。我们系统地讨论了电化学合成条件与产物的关系,以启发未来的探索。最后,本文讨论了电化学合成在先进电解水以及其他能量转换和储存应用方面的挑战和前景。     

Approaches to achieve surface sensitivity in the in situ XAS of electrocatalysts

In situ and operando techniques providing information regarding adsorbate bonding and atomic arrangements on the electrode surface along with pure electrochemical measurements are needed to more fully understand the detailed mechanism of electrocatalytic reactions on high surface areas/nanoparticle electrocatalysts. X-ray adsorption spectroscopy (XAS) is a powerful tool to interrogate the electronic structure and local coordination environment of such electrocatalysts under working conditions, but it should be acknowledged that standard XAS methods are not intrinsically surface sensitive. This review will present recent in situ XAS studies on single-atom, metal, and metal oxide electrocatalysts, highlighting the approaches taken to achieve surface sensitivity by careful designing of the sample under investigation.