A Double Atomic-Tuned RuBi SAA/Bi@OG Nanostructure with Optimum Charge Redistribution for Efficient Hydrogen Evolution

Charge redistribution on surface of Ru nanoparticle can significantly affect electrocatalytic HER activity. Herein, a double atomic-tuned RuBi SAA/Bi@OG nanostructure that features RuBi single-atom alloy nanoparticle supported by Bi−O single-site-doped graphene was successfully developed by one-step pyrolysis method. The alloyed Bi single atom and adjacent Bi−O single site in RuBi SAA/Bi@OG can synergistically manipulate electron transfer on Ru surface leading to optimum charge redistribution. Thus, the resulting RuBi SAA/Bi@OG exhibits superior alkaline HER activity. Its mass activity is up to 65000 mA mg⁻¹ at an overpotential of 150 mV, which is 72.2 times as much as that of commercial Pt/C. DFT calculations reveal that the RuBi SAA/Bi@OG possesses the optimum charge redistribution, which is most beneficial to strengthen adsorption of water and weaken hydrogen-adsorption free energy in HER process. This double atomic-tuned strategy on surface charge redistribution of Ru nanoparticle opens a new way to develop highly efficient electrocatalysts.     

Chemically dealloyed Pt–Au–Cu ternary electrocatalysts with enhanced stability in electrochemical oxygen reduction

We report simple synthesis of ternary Pt–Au–Cu catalysts consisting of active Pt-rich shell and Pt transition-metal alloy core for use as highly active and durable electrocatalysts in oxygen reduction reactions. The ternary Pt–Au–Cu catalysts were synthesized by chemical coreduction followed by thermal treatment and chemical dealloying. During synthesis, thermal treatment formed metal particles into high-degree alloys, and chemical dealloying led to selective dissolution of soluble Cu species from the outer surface layer of the thermally treated alloy particles, resulting in Pt-based alloys@Pt-rich surface core–shell configuration. Compared with a commercial Pt/C catalyst, our Pt_1?xAu _x Cu₃/C-AT catalysts exhibited approximately 2.4-fold enhanced performance in oxygen reduction reactions. Among the catalysts employed in this work, Pt_0.97Au_0.3Cu₃/C-AT showed the highest performance in terms of mass activity, specific activity, and electrochemically active surface area loss with negligible change during 10,000 potential cycles. The synthesis details, electrochemical characteristics, oxygen reduction reaction performance, and durability of the chemically dealloyed ternary Pt–Au–Cu catalysts are presented and discussed.     

Crystallographic facet selective HER catalysis: exemplified in FeP and NiP2 single crystals

How the crystal structures of ordered transition-metal phosphide catalysts affect the hydrogen-evolution reaction (HER) is investigated by measuring the anisotropic catalytic activities of selected crystallographic facets on large (mm-sized) single crystals of iron-phosphide (FeP) and monoclinic nickel-diphosphide (m-NiP₂). We find that different crystallographic facets exhibit distinct HER activities, in contrast to a commonly held assumption of severe surface restructuring during catalytic activity. Moreover, density-functional-theory-based computational studies show that the observed facet activity correlates well with the H-binding energy to P atoms on specific surface terminations. Direction dependent catalytic properties of two different phosphides with different transition metals, crystal structures, and electronic properties (FeP is a metal, while m-NiP₂ is a semiconductor) suggests that the anisotropy of catalytic properties is a common trend for HER phosphide catalysts. This realization opens an additional rational design for highly efficient HER phosphide catalysts, through the growth of nanocrystals with specific exposed facets. Furthermore, the agreement between theory and experimental trends indicates that screening using DFT methods can accelerate the identification of desirable facets, especially for ternary or multinary compounds. The large single-crystal nature of the phosphide electrodes with well-defined surfaces allows for determination of the catalytically important double-layer capacitance of a flat surface, C_dl = 39(2) μF cm⁻² for FeP, useful for an accurate calculation of the turnover frequency (TOF). X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) studies of the catalytic crystals that were used show the formation of a thin oxide/phosphate overlayer, presumably ex situ due to air-exposure. This layer is easily removed for FeP, revealing a surface of pristine metal phosphide.

The effect of the crystal structure of ordered transition-metal phosphide catalysts on the hydrogen-evolution reaction is investigated using single crystals of iron-phosphide (FeP) and monoclinic nickel-diphosphide (m-NiP₂).     

PtNi Alloy Coated in Porous Nitrogen-Doped Carbon as Highly Efficient Catalysts for Hydrogen Evolution Reactions

The development of low platinum loading hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) catalysts with high activity and stability is of great significance to the practical application of hydrogen energy. This paper reports a simple method to synthesize a highly efficient HER catalyst through coating a highly dispersed PtNi alloy on porous nitrogen-doped carbon (MNC) derived from the zeolite imidazolate skeleton. The catalyst is characterized and analyzed by physical characterization methods, such as XRD, SEM, TEM, BET, XPS, and LSV, EIS, it, v-t, etc. The optimized sample exhibits an overpotential of only 26 mV at a current density of 10 mA cm⁻², outperforming commercial 20 wt% Pt/C (33 mV). The synthesized catalyst shows a relatively fast HER kinetics as evidenced by the small Tafel slope of 21.5 mV dec⁻¹ due to the small charge transfer resistance, the alloying effect between Pt and Ni, and the interaction between PtNi alloy and carrier.     

氮掺杂超薄碳纳米片复合铂钌单原子合金催化剂的电化学析氢性能

为了减少贵金属的用量, 降低成本, 提高大规模生产的可能性, 构建单原子合金(SAA)是一个非常可行的解决方案. 设计了一种超小PtRu单原子合金物种均匀分散在掺氮超薄碳纳米片上的电催化剂(PtRu SAA/NC), 并通过基于同步辐射的X射线吸收精细结构(XAFS)光谱进行了结构确认. 与纯Ru团簇和氮掺杂的碳片相比, PtRu SAA/NC具有更高的析氢反应(HER)催化活性和特殊的稳定性, 在0.5 mol/L H₂SO₄溶液中进行HER时, 表现出较小的Tafel斜率(43 mV/dec), 且在10 mA/cm²电流密度下过电位仅为54 mV.     

Enthalpies of mixing of Al-Ni-La ternary alloys

Partial (for nickel) and integral enthalpies of mixing of liquid alloys of the Al-Ni-La ternary system of three radial sections with a constant ratio of molar fractions of aluminum and lanthanum x _Al/x _La = 0.3/0.7 at 1770 ± 5 K and 0.5/0.5 and 0.8/0.2 at 1870 ± 5 K up to molar fractions of nickel in ternary alloys of approximately 0.5–0.6 are studied by means of high-temperature calorimetry in isoperibolic mode. It is found that the enthalpies of mixing of the melts are essentially exothermic values. Based on the energetics of alloy formation of this ternary system, it is concluded that the main contribution is made by interaction between the components of melts of the boundary Ni-Al binary system.     

Amorphous Co-P Film: an Efficient Electrocatalyst for Hydrogen Evolution Reaction in Alkaline Seawater

Seawater electrolysis is considered an attractive alternative to conventional freshwater electrolysis for hydrogen production due to the abundance of seawater in nature. For this reason, efficient electrocatalysts for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) in alkaline seawater are highly desired. In this study, we report an amorphous Co−P alloy on nickel foam (Co−P/NF) that behaves as an efficient and stable HER electrocatalyst for alkaline seawater electrolysis. The Co−P/NF presents high catalytic performance for HER, requiring a low overpotential of 213 mV to drive a current density of 100 mA cm⁻² and a Tafel slope of 120.2 mV dec⁻¹ in alkaline seawater. Furthermore, it shows remarkable electrochemical and structural stability in alkaline seawater.     

Vapor–liquid equilibrium of octane-enhancing additives in gasolines: 6. Total pressure data and GE for binary and ternary mixtures containing 1,1-dimethylethyl methyl ether (MTBE), methanol and n-hexane at 313.15 K

Experimental isothermal P–x data at T=313.15 K for the binary systems 1,1-dimethylethyl methyl ether (MTBE)+n-hexane and methanol+n-hexane, and the ternary system MTBE+methanol+n-hexane are reported. Data reduction by Barker’s method provides correlations for G^E using the Margules equation for the binary systems and the Wohl expansion for the ternary system. Wilson, NRTL and UNIQUAC models have been applied successfully to both the binary and the ternary systems. Moreover, we compare the experimental results for these binary mixtures to the prediction of the UNIFAC (Dortmund) model. Experimental results have been compared to predictions for the ternary system obtained from the Wilson, NRTL, UNIQUAC and UNIFAC models; for the ternary system, the UNIFAC predictions seem poor. The presence of azeotropes in the binary systems has been studied.     

Ru−FeNi Alloy Heterojunctions on Lignin-derived Carbon as Bifunctional Electrocatalysts for Efficient Overall Water Splitting

Rational design of efficient, stable, and inexpensive bifunctional electrocatalysts for oxygen evolution reactions (OER) and hydrogen evolution reactions (HER) is a key challenge to realize green hydrogen production via electrolytic water splitting. Herein, Ru nanoparticles and FeNi alloy heterojunction catalyst (Ru−FeNi@NLC) encapsulated via lignin-derived carbon was prepared by self-assembly precipitation and in situ pyrolysis. The designed catalyst displays excellent performance at 10 mA cm⁻² with low overpotentials of 36 mV for HER and 198 mV for OER, and only needs 1.48 V for overall water splitting. Results and DFT calculations show the unique N-doped lignin-derived carbon layer and Ru−FeNi heterojunction contribute to optimized electronic structure for enhancing electron transfer, balanced free energy of reactants and intermediates in the sorption/desorption process, and significantly reduced reaction energy barrier for the HER and OER rate-determining steps, thus improved reaction kinetics. This work provides a new in situ pyrolysis doping strategy based on renewable biomass for the construction of highly active, stable and cost-effective catalysts.     

Experimental investigation of the vapor–liquid equilibrium at 313.15 K of the ternary system tert-amylmethyl ether (TAME)+n-heptane+methanol

Experimental isothermal P–x data at 313.15 K for the ternary system (tert-amylmethyl ether (TAME)+n-heptane+methanol) and for one of the unmeasured constituent binary systems, (tert-amylmethyl ether (TAME)+methanol) are reported. Data reduction by Barker's method provides correlations for g^E using the Margules equation for the binary systems and the Wohl expansion for the ternary system. Wilson, NRTL and UNIQUAC models have been applied successfully to both the binary and the ternary systems. The presence of azeotropes in the ternary system and constituent binaries are studied as well as the presence of immiscible zones.     

Single Atom Bi Decorated Copper Alloy Enables C−C Coupling for Electrocatalytic Reduction of CO2 into C2+ Products**

Single atom alloy (SAA) catalysts have been recently explored for promotion of various heterogeneous catalysis, but it remains unexplored for selective electrocatalytic reduction of carbon dioxide (CO₂) into multi-carbon (C₂₊) products involving C−C coupling. Herein we report a single-atomic Bi decorated Cu alloy (denoted as BiCu-SAA) electrocatalyst that could effectively modulate selectivity of CO₂ reduction into C₂₊ products instead of previous C₁ ones. The BiCu-SAA catalyst exhibits remarkably superior selectivity of C₂₊ products with optimal Faradaic efficiency (FE) of 73.4 % compared to the pure copper nanoparticle or Bi nanoparticles-decorated Cu nanocomposites, and its structure and performance can be well maintained at current density of 400 mA cm⁻² under the flow cell system. Based on our in situ characterizations and density functional theory calculations, the BiCu-SAA is found to favor the activation of CO₂ and subsequent C−C coupling during the electrocatalytic reaction, as should be responsible for its extraordinary C₂₊ selectivity.     

Carbon Nanotubes Decorated with CoP Nanocrystals: A Highly Active Non‐Noble‐Metal Nanohybrid Electrocatalyst for Hydrogen Evolution

The development of effective and inexpensive hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) electrocatalysts for future renewable energy systems is highly desired. The strongly acidic conditions in proton exchange membranes create a need for acid‐stable HER catalysts. A nanohybrid that consists of carbon nanotubes decorated with CoP nanocrystals (CoP/CNT) was prepared by the low‐temperature phosphidation of a Co₃O₄/CNT precursor. As a novel non‐noble‐metal HER catalyst operating in acidic electrolytes, the nanohybrid exhibits an onset overpotential of as low as 40 mV, a Tafel slope of 54 mV dec^?1, an exchange current density of 0.13 mA cm^?2, and a Faradaic efficiency of nearly 100 %. This catalyst maintains its catalytic activity for at least 18 hours and only requires overpotentials of 70 and 122 mV to attain current densities of 2 and 10 mA cm^?2, respectively.     

Isothermal vapor–liquid equilibria and excess molar volumes for the ternary mixtures containing 2-methyl pyrazine

Isothermal vapor–liquid equilibrium (VLE) data at 353.15 K and excess molar volumes (V^E) at 298.15 K are reported for the binary systems of ethyl acetate (EA)+cyclohexane and EA+n-hexane and also for the ternary systems of EA+cyclohexane+2-methyl pyrazine (2MP) and EA+n-hexane+2MP. The experimental binary VLE data were correlated with common g^E model equations. The correlated Wilson parameters of the constituent binary systems were used to calculate the phase behavior of the ternary mixtures. The calculated ternary VLE data using Wilson parameters were compared with experimental ternary data. The experimental excess molar volumes were correlated with the Redlich–Kister equation for the binary mixtures, and Cibulka’s equation for the ternary mixtures.     

The effect of ligand donor atoms on ternary complex stability

Formation constants of mixed ligand complexes of Cu²⁺, Zn²⁺, Ni²⁺, Co²⁺, and Mn²⁺,with cyadine-5′-monophosphoric acid (CMP) and various primary ligands such as 1,10-phenanthroline(phen), glycylglycine(glygly) and salicylic acid (sal) have been determined in aqueous solution at 35°C and 0.1 M (KNO₃) by potentiomeric measurements. The acid dissociation constants of all the above mentioned ligands together with their 1 : 1 binary metal complex formation constants were also measured at 35°C. In general all the 1 : 1 binary complexes follow the Irving-Williams order of stability. Further the binary metal complexes of primary ligands are more stable than their ternary complexes with CMP. For ternary complexes, Δ(log K) values seem to change from positive to highly negative as the coordinating atoms of the primary ligands were varied from N,N to N,O^? to O^?O^?. The higher stability of ternary complexes involving phen is due to its Π-bonding interaction with the above metal ions and the relative decrease in the stability of other ternary systems is due to the coulombic repulsion of donor oxygen atoms of primary and secondary ligands. Thus for ternary complexes the stabilities follow a decreasing order of M-phen-CMP > M-glygly-CMP > M-sal-CMP.     

Heteroatom‐doped MoSe2 Nanosheets with Enhanced Hydrogen Evolution Kinetics for Alkaline Water Splitting

Electrochemical water splitting for hydrogen generation is a vital part for the prospect of future energy systems, however, the practical utilization relies on the development of highly active and earth‐abundant catalysts to boost the energy conversion efficiency as well as reduce the cost. Molybdenum diselenide (MoSe₂) is a promising nonprecious metal‐based electrocatalyst for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) in acidic media, but it exhibits inferior alkaline HER kinetics in great part due to the sluggish water adsorption/dissociation process. Herein, the alkaline HER kinetics of MoSe₂ is substantially accelerated by heteroatom doping with transition metal ions. Specifically, the Ni‐doped MoSe₂ nanosheets exhibit the most impressive catalytic activity in terms of lower overpotential and larger exchange current density. The density functional theory (DFT) calculation results reveal that Ni/Co doping plays a key role in facilitating water adsorption as well as optimizing hydrogen adsorption. The present work paves a new way to the development of low‐cost and efficient electrocatalysts towards alkaline HER.     

Topological investigations of binary and ternary mixtures: excess isentropic compressibilities

The speed of sound, U_ij 1,3-dioxolane (D) in binary mixtures (ij) with benzene, cyclohexane, n-hexane or n-heptane and U_ijk for 1,3-dioxolane in ternary mixtures (ijk) with the same hydrocarbons have been measured as a function of composition at 298.15 K. The observed data have been utilised to evaluate excess isentropic compressibility of binary, (κ_s^E)_ij and ternary (κ_s^E)_ijk mixtures using density and speed of sound values of the binary and ternary mixtures. The Moelyn-Huggins concept of interaction between the molecular surfaces of the components of a binary mixture [Polymer 12 (1971) 389] has been extended to evaluate excess isentropic compressibility of the studied binary and ternary mixtures. It has been observed that κ_s^E values predicted by a graph-theoretical approach using connectivities of third degree for binary mixtures compare reasonably well with their corresponding experimental values and κ_s^E for ternary mixtures are of the same sign and order of magnitude.     

Perfluorodecaline/hydrocarbon systems prediction and correlation of liquid—liquid equilibrium data

Bernardo Gil, M.G. and Soares, L.J.S., 1986. Perfluorodecaline/hydrocarbon systems prediction and correlation of liquid—liquid equilibrium data. Fluid Phase Equilibria, 25: 291–302.Experimental binary, ternary and quaternary liquid-liquid equilibrium data for systems containing perfluorodecaline (PFD) and some hydrocarbons were determined.Binary NRTL, UNIQUAC and UNIFAC parameters were obtained, from the binary, the ternary and the quaternary experimental data: for the calculation of parameters from binary data a Newton-Raphson technique was used and the parameters so obtained—for each temperature (T)-were linearly correlated with T and 1/T. Predicted binary, ternary and quaternary data were then compared with the experimental results; a Nelder-Mead method was used for the calculation of the binary parameters from ternary tie-line data.UNIFAC group parameters for the interaction CH₂/CF₂ and CHCH₂/CF₂ were obtained.Attempts were made, and are discussed, to: correlate UNIFAC parameters with the number of carbon atoms and temperature; obtain a set of NRTL and UNIQUAC parameters yielding the overall best fit for the systems under consideration.     

Two-dimensional Pt2P3 monolayer: A promising bifunctional electrocatalyst with different active sites for hydrogen evolution and CO2 reduction

Green hydrogen production and CO₂ fixation have been identified as the fundamental techniques for sustainable economy. The open challenge is to develop high performance catalysts for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and CO₂ electroreduction (CO₂ER) to valuable chemicals. Under such context, this work reported computational efforts to design promising electrocatalyst for HER and CO₂ER based on the swarm-intelligence algorithm. Among the family of transition-metal phosphides (TMPs), Pt₂P₃ monolayer has been identified as excellent bifunctional catalysts due to high stability, excellent conductivity and superior catalytic performance. Different from typical d-block catalysts, p-band center presented by P atoms within Pt₂P₃ monolayer plays the essential role for its reactivity towards HER and CO₂ER, underlining the key value of p-electrons in advanced catalyst design and thus providing a promising strategy to further develop novel catalysts made of p-block elements for various energy applications.     

Catalysts of ethanol anodic oxidation for ethanol-air fuel cell with a proton-conducting polymer electrolyte

Synthesis techniques for binary PtSn, PdM (M = Sn, V, Mo) and ternary PtSnNi, PtRuSn catalysts of ethanol electrooxidation on highly dispersed carbon materials are suggested. The highest activity in the 0.5 M H₂SO₄ solution containing 1 M C₂H₅OH corresponds to the system of PtSn (3: 1, 40 wt % Pt) with the particle size of 2–4 nm and tin content in the alloy with platinum of about 6%. It was shown that the catalyst efficiency as regards ethanol oxidation depth decreases in the series of Pt > PtRu ≈ PtSn, and the catalyst activity by current forms the series of PtSn > PtRu > Pt. The membrane-electrode assembly (MEA) with the anodes on the basis of the PtSn (3: 1, 40 wt % Pt) catalyst had stable characteristics for 220 h at the current density of ∼50 mA/cm².     

Local Surface Structure and Composition Control the Hydrogen Evolution Reaction on Iron Nickel Sulfides

In order to design more powerful electrocatalysts, developing our understanding of the role of the surface structure and composition of widely abundant bulk materials is crucial. This is particularly true in the search for alternative hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) catalysts to replace platinum. We report scanning electrochemical cell microscopy (SECCM) measurements of the (111)‐crystal planes of Fe_4.5Ni_4.5S₈, a highly active HER catalyst. In combination with structural characterization methods, we show that this technique can reveal differences in activity arising from even the slightest compositional changes. By probing electrochemical properties at the nanoscale, in conjunction with complementary structural information, novel design principles are revealed for application to rational material synthesis.