Understanding of Strain Effects in the Electrochemical Reduction of CO2: Using Pd Nanostructures as an Ideal Platform

Tuning the surface strain of heterogeneous catalysts represents a powerful strategy to engineer their catalytic properties by altering the electronic structures. However, a clear and systematic understanding of strain effect in electrochemical reduction of carbon dioxide is still lacking, which restricts the use of surface strain as a tool to optimize the performance of electrocatalysts. Herein, we demonstrate the strain effect in electrochemical reduction of CO₂ by using Pd octahedra and icosahedra with similar sizes as a well‐defined platform. The Pd icosahedra/C catalyst shows a maximum Faradaic efficiency for CO production of 91.1 % at −0.8 V versus reversible hydrogen electrode (vs. RHE), 1.7‐fold higher than the maximum Faradaic efficiency of Pd octahedra/C catalyst at −0.7 V (vs. RHE). The combination of molecular dynamic simulations and density functional theory calculations reveals that the tensile strain on the surface of icosahedra boosts the catalytic activity by shifting up the d ‐band center and thus strengthening the adsorption of key intermediate COOH*. This strain effect was further verified directly by the surface valence‐band photoemission spectra and electrochemical analysis.     

Tracking the Electrocatalytic Activity of a Single Palladium Nanoparticle for the Hydrogen Evolution Reaction

The nanoparticle-based electrocatalysts’ performance is directly related to their working conditions. In general, a number of nanoparticles are uncontrollably fixed on a millimetre-sized electrode for electrochemical measurements. However, it is hard to reveal the maximum electrocatalytic activity owing to the aggregation and detachment of nanoparticles on the electrode surface. To solve this problem, here, we take the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) catalyzed by palladium nanoparticles (Pd NPs) as a model system to track the electrocatalytic activity of single Pd NPs by stochastic collision electrochemistry and ensemble electrochemistry, respectively. Compared with the nanoparticle fixed working condition, Pd NPs in the nanoparticle diffused working condition results in a 2–5 orders magnitude enhancement of electrocatalytic activity for HER at various bias potential. Stochastic collision electrochemistry with high temporal resolution gives further insights into the accurate study of NPs’ electrocatalytic performance, enabling to dramatically enhance electrocatalytic efficiency.     

High-Resolution Electrochemical Mapping of the Hydrogen Evolution Reaction on Transition-Metal Dichalcogenide Nanosheets

High-resolution scanning electrochemical cell microscopy (SECCM) is used to image and quantitatively analyze the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) catalytically active sites of 1H-MoS₂ nanosheets, MoS₂, and WS₂ heteronanosheets. Using a 20 nm radius nanopipette and hopping mode scanning, the resolution of SECCM was beyond the optical microscopy limit and visualized a small triangular MoS₂ nanosheet with a side length of ca. 130 nm. The electrochemical cell provides local cyclic voltammograms with a nanoscale spatial resolution for visualizing HER active sites as electrochemical images. The HER activity difference of edge, terrace, and heterojunction of MoS₂ and WS₂ were revealed. The SECCM imaging directly visualized the relationship of HER activity and number of MoS₂ nanosheet layers and unveiled the heterogeneous aging state of MoS₂ nanosheets. SECCM can be used for improving local HER activities by producing sulfur vacancies using electrochemical reaction at the selected region.     

High‐Resolution Electrochemical Mapping of the Hydrogen Evolution Reaction on Transition‐Metal Dichalcogenide Nanosheets

High‐resolution scanning electrochemical cell microscopy (SECCM) is used to image and quantitatively analyze the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) catalytically active sites of 1H‐MoS₂ nanosheets, MoS₂, and WS₂ heteronanosheets. Using a 20 nm radius nanopipette and hopping mode scanning, the resolution of SECCM was beyond the optical microscopy limit and visualized a small triangular MoS₂ nanosheet with a side length of ca. 130 nm. The electrochemical cell provides local cyclic voltammograms with a nanoscale spatial resolution for visualizing HER active sites as electrochemical images. The HER activity difference of edge, terrace, and heterojunction of MoS₂ and WS₂ were revealed. The SECCM imaging directly visualized the relationship of HER activity and number of MoS₂ nanosheet layers and unveiled the heterogeneous aging state of MoS₂ nanosheets. SECCM can be used for improving local HER activities by producing sulfur vacancies using electrochemical reaction at the selected region.     

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.     

Strain Influences the Hydrogen Evolution Activity and Absorption Capacity of Palladium

Strain engineering can increase the activity and selectivity of an electrocatalyst. Tensile strain is known to improve the electrocatalytic activity of palladium electrodes for reduction of carbon dioxide or dioxygen, but determining how strain affects the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) is complicated by the fact that palladium absorbs hydrogen concurrently with HER. We report here a custom electrochemical cell, which applies tensile strain to a flexible working electrode, that enabled us to resolve how tensile strain affects hydrogen absorption and HER activity for a thin film palladium electrocatalyst. When the electrodes were subjected to mechanically‐applied tensile strain, the amount of hydrogen that absorbed into the palladium decreased, and HER electrocatalytic activity increased. This study showcases how strain can be used to modulate the hydrogen absorption capacity and HER activity of palladium.     

在纳米晶Co－Mo／Ni复合电极上的析氢反应

采用复合电镀的方法将不同球磨时间制备的高催化活性的纳米晶Ｃｏ－Ｍｏ合金粉直接镀在电极表面,用稳态极化曲线及交流阻抗技术测试了这些电极析氢的电化学活性,并用Ｘ射线衍射、透射电镜及Ｘ射线光电子能谱、扫描电镜监测了Ｃｏ－ＭＯ合金粉的物相结构、晶粒尺寸和复合镀层的成份、形貌,实验结果表明,Ｃｏ－Ｍｏ纳米晶合金粉有较高的析氢催化活性。球磨使钴钼粉合金化成为纳米晶,一方面增加了复合镀层的真实表面积,另一方面由于纳米晶合金具有高比例的表面活性原子,致使析氢活化能降低,加快了析氢反应,研究表明在不太高温度下,电化学脱附的活化能和整个析氢反应的活化能一致。说明电化学脱附为速度控制步骤。     

Scanning electrochemical cell microscopy: High-resolution structure−property studies of mono- and polycrystalline electrode materials

Scanning electrochemical cell microscopy (SECCM) is a nanopipette-based scanning electrochemical probe microscopy technique that utilises a mobile droplet cell to measure and visualise electrode activity with high spatiotemporal resolution. This article spotlights the use of SECCM for studying the electrochemistry of crystalline electrode materials, ranging from well-defined monocrystals (e.g., transition metal dichalcogenides: MoS₂, WS₂ and WSe₂) to structurally/compositionally heterogeneous polycrystals (e.g., polycrystalline Pt, Au, Pd, Cu, Zn, low carbon steel, boron-doped diamond) and covering the diverse areas of (photo)electrocatalysis, corrosion science, surface science and electroanalysis. In particular, it is emphasised how nanoscale-resolved information from SECCM is readily related to electrode structure and properties, collected at a commensurate scale with complementary, co-located microscopy/spectroscopy techniques, to allow structure–property relationships to be assigned directly and unambiguously.     

PVP封端剂对Pd纳米晶电催化氧化甲醇和乙醇性能的影响

Direct alcohol fuel cells (DAFCs) have attracted considerable research interest because of their potential application as alternative power sources for automotive systems and portable electronics. Pd-based catalysts represent one of the most popular catalysts for DAFCs due to their excellent electrocatalytic activities in alkaline electrolytes. Thus, it is of great importance to understand the structure-activity relationship of Pd electrocatalysts for alcohol electrocatalysis. Recently, size- and shape- controlled Pd nanocrystals have been successfully synthesized and subsequently used to study the size and shape effects of Pd electrocatalysts on alcohol electrocatalysis, in which the Pd (100) facet exhibited higher electrocatalytic oxidation activity for small alcohol molecules than the Pd (111) and (110) facets. Although it is well known that capping ligands, which are widely used in wet chemistry for the size- and shape-controlled synthesis of metal nanocrystals, likely chemisorb onto the surfaces of the resulting metal nanocrystals and influence their surface structure and surface-mediated properties, such as catalysis, this issue was not considered in previous studies of Pd nanocrystal electrocatalysts for electrocatalytic oxidation of small alcohol molecules. In this study, we prepared polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP)-capped Pd nanocrystals with different morphologies and sizes and comparatively studied their electrocatalytic activities for methanol and ethanol oxidation in alkaline solutions. The chemisorbed PVP molecules transferred charge to the Pd nanocrystals, and the finer Pd nanocrystals had a higher coverage of chemisorbed PVP, and thus exposed fewer accessible surface sites, experienced more extensive PVP-to-Pd charge transfer, and were more negatively charged. The intrinsic electrocatalytic activity, represented by the electrochemical surface area (ECSA)-normalized electrocatalytic activity, of Pd nanocubes with exposed (100) facets increases with the particle size, indicating that the more negatively-charged Pd surface is less electrocatalytically active. The Pd nanocubes with average sizes between 12 and 19 nm are intrinsically more electrocatalytically active than commercial Pd black electrocatalysts, while the activity of Pd nanocubes with an averages size of 8 nm is less. This suggests that the enhancement effect of the exposed (100) facets surpasses the deteriorative effect of the negatively charged Pd surface for the Pd nanocubes with average sizes between 12 and 19 nm, whereas the deteriorative effect of the negatively charged Pd surface surpasses the enhancement effect of the exposed (100) facets for the Pd nanocubes with average sizes of 8 nm due to the extensive PVP-to-Pd charge transfer. Moreover, the Pd nanocubes with average sizes of 8 nm exhibit similar intrinsic electrocatalytic activity to the Pd nanooctahedra with (111) facets exposed and average sizes of 7 nm, indicating that the electronic structure of Pd electrocatalysts plays a more important role in influencing the electrocatalytic activity than the exposed facet. Since the chemisorbed PVP molecules block the surface sites on Pd nanocrystals that are accessible to the reactants, all Pd nanocrystals exhibit lower mass-normalized electrocatalytic activity than the Pd black electrocatalysts, and the mass-normalized electrocatalytic activity increases with the ECSA. These results clearly demonstrate that the size- and shape-dependent electrocatalytic activity of Pd nanocrystals capped with PVP for methanol and ethanol oxidation should be attributed to both the exposed facets of the Pd nanocrystals and the size-dependent electronic structures of the Pd nanocrystals resulting from the size-dependent PVP coverage and PVP-to-Pd charge transfer. Therefore, capping ligands on capped metal nanocrystals inevitably influence their surface structures and surface-mediated properties, which must be considered for a comprehensive understanding of the structure-activity relationship of capped metal nanocrystals.     

Electrocatalytic evolution of hydrogen on porous alumina/gelcast-derived nano-carbon network composite electrode

We presented a way to fabricate new porous alumina/gelcast-derived nano-carbon network (NCN) composite electrode using gelcasting and reduction-sintering method. The morphology, crystalline phases, and nanostructure of the alumina/NCN electrode were characterized. The electrocatalytic activity of this elelctrode toward hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) in alkaline solutions was investigated. The electrocatalytic activity analyzed by cyclic voltammetry exhibited the onset potential for HER shifted in the positive direction favoring hydrogen generation with lower overpotential on the porous electrode, compared with pure carbon electrode. This behavior was attributed to the high porosity and electrochemical surface area as well as the nanostructure of the electrode that was pyrolyzed nano-carbon networks introduced into the alumina ceramic matrix, which can greatly enhance the electrode electrocatalytic activity toward HER. The associated kinetic parameters of HER were systematically investigated using electrochemical impedance spectroscopy.     

缺陷位工程在二维材料电催化析氢反应中的研究进展

面对不可再生资源的快速消耗和环境污染的日益加重,寻找清洁可再生能源势在必行.氢能是一种清洁可再生的能源,是目前最有希望替代化石燃料的一种能源.电化学水分解可用来产生高纯氢气,其中析氢催化剂起着至关重要的作用.尽管贵金属铂基催化剂表现出优异的析氢性能,然而稀缺性和高成本限制了其大规模应用.因此,开发高效和地球存量丰富的电...     

电解液中的乙二胺四甲叉膦酸对甲酸在炭载Pd催化剂上电氧化性能的影响

利用X射线能量色散(EDS)谱、X射线衍射(XRD)谱、透射电子显微镜(TEM)和电化学等技术研究了在电解液中添加乙二胺四甲叉膦酸(EDTMP)对甲酸在Pd/C催化剂上电氧化性能的影响. 结果表明, 当EDTMP添加的浓度为0.5 mmol/L时, Pd/C催化剂对甲酸氧化的电催化活性和稳定性最好. 这主要归结于吸附在Pd/C催化剂表面的EDTMP不但能通过基团效应降低CO的吸附量, 还能抑制Pd/C催化剂催化甲酸分解的速率, 从而减少了CO的毒化作用. 但当EDTMP的浓度大于0.5 mmol/L时, 吸附过多的EDTMP反而会占据Pd的活性位点, 降低催化作用.     

Scanning electrochemical cell microscopy: A natural technique for single entity electrochemistry

Scanning electrochemical cell microscopy (SECCM) is a robust and versatile scanning electrochemical probe microscopy technique that allows direct correlation of structure–activity at the nanoscale. SECCM uses a mobile droplet cell to investigate and visualize electrochemical activity at interfaces with high spatiotemporal resolution, while also providing topographical information. This article highlights diverse contemporary challenges in the field of single entity electrochemistry tackled by the increasing uptake of SECCM globally. Various applications of SECCM in single entity electrochemistry are featured herein, including electrocatalysis, electrodeposition, corrosion science and materials science, with electrode materials spanning particles, polymers, two-dimensional materials and complex polycrystalline substrates. The use of SECCM for patterning structures is also highlighted.     

Electrocatalytic activity of Pd nanoparticles supported on poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene)-graphene hybrid for ethanol electrooxidation

The support materials play a critical role for the electrocatalytic oxidation of ethanol on precious metal catalysts in fuel cells. Here, we report the poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) combined with reduced graphene oxide (PEDOT-RGO) as the support of Pd nanoparticles (NPs) for ethanol electrooxidation in alkaline medium. The as-prepared Pd/PEDOT-RGO composite catalysts are characterized by Raman spectrometer, X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microcopy, and scanning electron microcopy. PEDOT-RGO composite with the porous structure facilitates the dispersion of Pd NPs with a smaller size leading to the increase of electrochemical active surface area. The electrochemical properties and electrocatalytic activities of Pd/PEDOT-RGO hybrid are evaluated by cyclic voltammetry, chronoamperometry, CO stripping voltammetry, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) and Tafel analysis. The results suggest that Pd/PEDOT-RGO hybrid shows a higher electrocatalytic activity, a better long-term stability, and the poisoning tolerance for the ethanol electrooxidation than Pd on carbon black. EIS and Tafel analysis indicate that PEDOT-RGO improves the kinetics of ethanol electrooxidation on the Pd NPs and is an efficient support in fuel cells.     

Advancing the Electrochemistry of the Hydrogen‐Evolution Reaction through Combining Experiment and Theory

The electrocatalytic hydrogen‐evolution reaction (HER), as the main step of water splitting and the cornerstone of exploring the mechanism of other multi‐electron transfer electrochemical processes, is the subject of extensive studies. A large number of high‐performance electrocatalysts have been developed for HER accompanied by recent significant advances in exploring its electrochemical nature. Herein we present a critical appraisal of both theoretical and experimental studies of HER electrocatalysts with special emphasis on the electronic structure, surface (electro)chemistry, and molecular design. It addresses the importance of correlating theoretical calculations and electrochemical measurements toward better understanding of HER electrocatalysis at the atomic level. Fundamental concepts in the computational quantum chemistry and its relation to experimental electrochemistry are also presented along with some featured examples.     

Synthesis and characterization of Pd catalysts supported on carbon microspheres for formic acid oxidation

A facile preparation of Pd catalyst using carbon microspheres as support was introduced in this paper. The carbon microspheres were prepared with a simple method from dextrose via hydrothermal process and used as catalysts support for formic acid electrooxidation. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) analyses revealed that the as-prepared face-centered cubic crystal Pd nanoparticles were well-dispersed on the surface of the carbon microspheres, and the mean diameter of the nanoparticles was 8.8 nm. The effect of the support on the catalyst performance for formic acid electrooxidation was studied. The as-prepared catalyst showed the enhanced electrochemical surface active area and the higher electrocatalytic activity towards formic acid oxidation compared with Pd/CNTs and Pd/XC-72 catalysts prepared at room temperature. Electrochemical analysis suggested that the carbon microspheres might be good candidates to be used as the supports of catalyst for formic acid electrochemical oxidation.     

Atomically Dispersed Pt on Screw-like Pd/Au Core-shell Nanowires for Enhanced Electrocatalysis

Engineering noble metal nanostructures at the atomic level can significantly optimize their electrocatalytic performance and remarkably reduce their usage. We report the synthesis of atomically dispersed Pt on screw-like Pd/Au nanowires by using ultrafine Pd nanowires as seeds. Au can selectively grow on the surface of Pd nanowires by an island growth pattern to fabricate surface defect sites to load atomically dispersed Pt, which can be confirmed by X-ray absorption fine structure measurements and aberration corrected HRTEM images. The nanowires with 2.74 at % Pt exhibit superior HER properties in acidic solution with an overpotential of 20.6 mV at 10 mA cm⁻² and enhanced alkaline ORR performance with a mass activity over 15 times greater than the commercial platinum/carbon (Pt/C) catalysts.     

EDTA对活性炭的功能化处理及其对炭载Pd催化剂电催化性能的影响

采用乙二胺四乙酸(EDTA)对活性炭进行功能化处理, 研究了其对表面基团、炭载Pd 纳米粒子结构及Pd催化剂电催化性能的影响. 傅里叶变换红外(FTIR)光谱和X射线光电子能谱(XPS)表征表明, EDTA处理在炭表面引入了含氮基团. X射线粉末衍射(XRD)光谱、透射电镜(TEM)和电化学测试结果显示, 活性炭经EDTA处理后, 负载的Pd粒子粒径虽有所增大, 但由于炭载体与Pd粒子相互作用的增强, Pd利用率增加, 催化剂对甲酸氧化的活性和稳定性均显著提高. 电化学阻抗谱(EIS)分析进一步揭示, 甲酸在该催化剂电极上的电氧化反应具有较低的电荷传递电阻.     

Structural correlations in heterogeneous electron transfer at monolayer and multilayer graphene electrodes

As a new form of carbon, graphene is attracting intense interest as an electrode material with widespread applications. In the present study, the heterogeneous electron transfer (ET) activity of graphene is investigated using scanning electrochemical cell microscopy (SECCM), which allows electrochemical currents to be mapped at high spatial resolution across a surface for correlation with the corresponding structure and properties of the graphene surface. We establish that the rate of heterogeneous ET at graphene increases systematically with the number of graphene layers, and show that the stacking in multilayers also has a subtle influence on ET kinetics.