Controlled Synthesis of 3D Flower‐like Ni2P Composed of Mesoporous Nanoplates for Overall Water Splitting

Developing efficient non‐noble metal and earth‐abundant electrocatalysts with tunable microstructures for overall water splitting is critical to promote clean energy technologies for a hydrogen economy. Herein, novel three‐dimensional (3D) flower‐like Ni₂P composed of mesoporous nanoplates with controllable morphology and high surface area was prepared by a hydrothermal method and low‐temperature phosphidation as efficient electrocatalysts for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and oxygen evolution reaction (OER). Compared with the urchin‐like Ni_x P_y , the 3D flower‐like Ni₂P with a diameter of 5 μm presented an efficient and stable catalytic performance in 0.5 m H₂SO₄, with a small Tafel slope of 79 mV dec⁻¹ and an overpotential of about 240 mV at a current density of 10 mA cm⁻² with a mass loading density of 0.283 mg cm⁻². In addition, the catalyst also exhibited a remarkable performance for the OER in 1.0 m KOH electrolyte, with an overpotential of 320 mV to reach a current density of 10 mA cm⁻² and a small Tafel slope of 72 mV dec⁻¹. The excellent catalytic performance of the as‐prepared Ni₂P may be ascribed to its novel 3D morphology with unique mesoporous structure.     

Thermal stability of high surface area silicon carbide materials

The synthesis of mesoporous silicon carbide by chemical vapor infiltration of dimethyl dichlorosilane into mesoporous silica SBA-15 and subsequent dissolution of the silica matrix with HF was investigated. The influence of the synthesis parameters of the composite material (SiC/SBA-15) on the final product (mesoporous SiC) was determined. Depending on the preparation conditions, materials with specific surface areas from 410 to 830 m² g⁻¹ and pore sizes between 2 and 10 nm with high mesopore volume (0.31-0.96 cm³ g⁻¹) were prepared. Additionally, the thermal stability of mesoporous silicon carbide at 1573 K in an inert atmosphere (argon) was investigated, and compared to that of SBA-15 and ordered mesoporous carbon (CMK-1). Mesoporous SiC has a much higher thermal textural stability as compared to SBA-15, but a lower stability than ordered mesoporous carbon CMK-1.     

Self-Assembly Approach Towards MoS2-Embedded Hierarchical Porous Carbons for Enhanced Electrocatalytic Hydrogen Evolution

Transition metal-based nanoparticle-embedded carbon materials have received increasing attention for constructing next-generation electrochemical catalysts for energy storage and conversion. However, designing hybrid carbon materials with controllable hierarchical micro/mesoporous structures, excellent dispersion of metal nanoparticles, and multiple heteroatom-doping remains challenging. Here, a novel pyridinium-containing ionic hypercrosslinked micellar frameworks (IHMFs) prepared from the core–shell unimicelle of s-poly(tert-butyl acrylate)-b-poly(4-bromomethyl) styrene (s-PtBA-b-PBMS) and linear poly(4-vinylpyridine) were used as self-sacrificial templates for confined growth of molybdenum disulfide (MoS₂) inside cationic IHMFs through electrostatic interaction. After pyrolysis, MoS₂-anchored nitrogen-doped porous carbons possessing tunable hierarchical micro/mesoporous structures and favorable distributions of MoS₂ nanoparticles exhibited excellent electrocatalytic activity for hydrogen evolution reaction as well as small Tafel slope of 66.7 mV dec⁻¹, low onset potential, and excellent cycling stability under acidic condition. Crucially, hierarchical micro/mesoporous structure and high surface area could boost their catalytic hydrogen evolution performance. This approach provides a novel route for preparation of micro/mesoporous hybrid carbon materials with confined transition metal nanoparticles for electrochemical energy conversion.     

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.     

Zn-空气电池中二维与三维结构碳负载Mn3O4的催化性能比较

采用湿法浸渍将Mn3O4负载到不同碳材料的表面, 测试了这些复合材料用于空气电极催化剂的电催化性能. 通过充放电和循环伏安等电化学测试发现, 具有三维孔道结构的介孔碳材料(CMK-3)的催化性能远比二维孔道结构的介孔碳(OMC)的好. 从透射电子显微镜观察发现, 氧化锰粒子均负载在碳的外表面, 位于三维孔道外表面的氧化锰可以与电解液和碳孔道内的氧气同时接触. 这种结构产生了大量有效的三相反应界面, 从而达到良好的催化效果.     

Molybdenum‐tungsten Oxide Nanowires Rich in Oxygen Vacancies as An Advanced Electrocatalyst for Hydrogen Evolution

Electrolysis of water is a promising way to produce hydrogen fuel in large scale. The commercialization of this technology requires highly efficient non‐noble metal electrocatalysts to decease the energy input for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). In this work, a novel nanowire structured molybdenum‐tungsten bimetallic oxide (CTAB‐D‐W₄MoO₃) is synthesized by a simple hydrothermal method followed with post annealing treatment. The obtained metal oxides feature with enhanced conductivity, rich oxygen vacancies and customized electronic structure. As such, the composite electrocatalyst exhibits excellent electrocatalytic performance for HER in an acidic environment, achieving a large current density of 100 mA cm^?2 at overpotential of only 286 mV and a small Tafel slope of 71.2 mV dec^?1. The excellent electrocatalytic HER performance of CTAB‐D‐W₄MoO₃ is attributed to the unique nanowire structure, rich catalytic active sites and promoted electron transfer rate.     

Mesoporous PtPb Nanosheets as Efficient Electrocatalysts for Hydrogen Evolution and Ethanol Oxidation

Using a one-pot hydrothermal method with ethylenediamine, we have synthesized mesoporous PtPb nanosheets that exhibit exceptional activity in both hydrogen evolution and ethanol oxidation. The resulting PtPb nanosheets have a Pt-enriched structure with up to 80 % atomic content of Pt. The synthetic method generated a significant mesoporous structure, formed through the dissolution of Pb species. These advanced structures enable the mesoporous PtPb nanosheets to achieve a current density of 10 mA cm⁻² with an extreme low overpotential of 21 mV for hydrogen evolution under alkaline conditions. Furthermore, the mesoporous PtPb nanosheets exhibit superior catalytic activity and stability for ethanol oxidation. The highest catalytic current density of PtPb nanosheets is 5.66 times higher than that of commercial Pt/C. This research opens up new possibilities in designing mesoporous, two-dimensional noble-metal-based materials for electrochemical energy conversion with excellent performance.     

载铜介孔碳CMK-3的制备及其对苯酚的吸附-催化氧化性能

通过一种简易的方法在介孔碳CMK-3的孔道内负载氧化铜粒子制备Cu/CMK-3复合物,利用粉末X射线衍射、氮气吸附-脱附、透射电镜等手段对其进行表征.结果表明,氧化铜均匀地分散在CMK-3孔道中,CMK-3在负载氧化铜后仍有较大的比表面积.考察了载铜CMK-3对水中苯酚的吸附和低温干法催化氧化苯酚性能.吸附和循环使用结果表明,Cu/CMK-3对水中苯酚具有较大的吸附量和良好的催化氧化效率.热重-质谱(TG-MS)联用测试结果表明,吸附的苯酚在180℃左右开始被催化氧化为CO2和水,此时不会造成苯酚的脱附和介孔碳CMK-3的烧蚀.     

Waste-yeast biomass as nitrogen/phosphorus sources and carbon template: Environment-friendly synthesis of N,P-Mo2C nanoparticles on porous carbon matrix for efficient hydrogen evolution

Tailor-made advanced electrocatalysts with high active and stable for hydrogen evolution reaction （HER）play a key role in the development of hydrogen economy.Herein,a N,P-co-doped molybdenum carbide confined in porous carbon matrix （N,P-Mo₂C/NPC） with a hierarchical structure is prepared by a resources recovery process.The N,P-Mo₂C/NPC compound exhibits outstanding HER activity with a low overpotential of 84 mV to achieve 10 mA/cm²,and excellent stability in alka...     

不同载体负载的铂催化剂在丙酮酸乙酯不对称氢化反应中的活性及其铂流失率比较

以介孔树脂材料FDU-14和介孔碳材料CMK-3为载体制备了两种负载型铂催化剂, 用N₂气吸附、X射线衍射及CO化学吸附等手段对这两种催化剂进行了表征, 并将这两种不同的负载型铂催化剂在丙酮酸乙酯不对称氢化反应中的催化性能及其铂流失率与商品化Pt/Al₂O₃催化剂进行了比较. 研究结果表明, 尽管Pt/Al₂O₃催化剂的初始活性和光学选择性均较高, 然而相同反应条件下乙酸溶剂中Pt/FDU-14和Pt/CMK-3催化剂的铂流失率比Pt/Al₂O₃催化剂的低. 通过对催化剂进行CO吸附原位傅里叶变换红外漫反射光谱(DRIFTS)表征, 从载体的不同表面电子性质角度解释了不同载体负载的铂催化剂在丙酮酸乙酯不对称氢化反应中的活性和铂流失率的差异.     

Reversible replication between ordered mesoporous silica and mesoporous carbon

Highly ordered mesoporous silica can be regenerated from a mesoporous carbon CMK-3 that is a negative replica of mesoporous silica SBA-15, indicating reversible replication between carbon and inorganic materials.     

Sulfur-doped CMK-5 with expanded lattice for high-performance lithium ion batteries

Heteroatom-doped porous carbon materials are very attractive for lithium ion batteries (LIBs) owing to their high specific surface areas, open pore structures, and abundant active sites. However, heteroatom-doped porous carbon with very high surface area and large pore volume are highly desirable but still remain a big challenge. Herein, we reported a sulfur-doped mesoporous carbon (CMK-5-S) with nanotubes array structure, ultrahigh specific surface area (1390 m²/g), large pore volume (1.8 cm³/g), bimodal pore size distribution (2.9 and 4.6 nm), and high sulfur content (2.5 at%). The CMK-5-S used as an anode material for LIBs displays high specific capacity, excellent rate capability and highly cycling stability. The initial reversible specific capacity at 0.1 A/g is as high as 1580 mAh/g and simultaneously up to 701 mAh/g at 1 A/g even after 500 cycles. Further analysis reveals that the excellent electrochemical storage performances is attributed to its unique structures as well as the expanded lattice by sulfur-doping.     

Influence of Hierarchical Porosity in Carbon Material on Electrocatalytic Property of Supported Pt Nanoparticles

The influence of hierarchical porosity on electrocatalytic property was investigated with Pt nanoparticles supported on three types of carbon materials, namely, commercial Vulcan XC-72, ordered mesoporous carbon CMK-5, and hierarchical carbon aerogel (HCA). The electrocatalytic activity of carbon supported Pt nanoparticles was verified by cyclic voltammetry in H₂SO₄ and CH₃OH solution. Pt/HCA presented superior performance with higher peak current (7.5 mA·cm⁻²) and electrochemical active area (128.0 m²·g⁻¹). This could be attributed to the carbon aerogel with continuous but nonperiodical mesopore structure, which facilitated dispersion of Pt nanoparticles and mass transport around reactants and products.     

Enhancing Hydrogen Evolution by Optimizing the Hydrogen Adsorption on Titanium Monoxide Nanodot-Decorated Cobalt Sulfide Nanosheets

Modulating the local electronic state of metal compounds through interfacial interaction has become a key method for manufacturing high-performance hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) electrocatalysts. The electron-rich active sites can promote the adsorption of hydrogen, which accelerates the Volmer step and thereby enhances the electrocatalytic performance of HER. Here, we found that the strong interfacial interaction between TiO nanodots (TiO/Co−S) and Co−S nanosheets could advantageously improve the performance toward HER of electrocatalyst. Meanwhile, XPS results showed that modulating the local electronic structure of the TiO nanodots produces electron-rich regions on Co. As a result, the overpotential of the TiO/Co−S nanocomposite at 10 mA cm⁻² was 107 mV, and the Tafel slope was 83.3 mV dec⁻¹. This study focused on the effect of the solid-solid interface on the local electronic structure of the catalytic metal active sites and successfully improved the catalytic activity of transition metal materials in HER catalysis.     

Heterostructured Inter-Doped Ruthenium–Cobalt Oxide Hollow Nanosheet Arrays for Highly Efficient Overall Water Splitting

The development of transition-metal-oxides (TMOs)-based bifunctional catalysts toward efficient overall water splitting through delicate control of composition and structure is a challenging task. Herein, the rational design and controllable fabrication of unique heterostructured inter-doped ruthenium–cobalt oxide [(Ru–Co)O_x] hollow nanosheet arrays on carbon cloth is reported. Benefiting from the desirable compositional and structural advantages of more exposed active sites, optimized electronic structure, and interfacial synergy effect, the (Ru–Co)O_x nanoarrays exhibited outstanding performance as a bifunctional catalyst. Particularly, the catalyst showed a remarkable hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) activity with an overpotential of 44.1 mV at 10 mA cm⁻² and a small Tafel slope of 23.5 mV dec⁻¹, as well as an excellent oxygen evolution reaction (OER) activity with an overpotential of 171.2 mV at 10 mA cm⁻². As a result, a very low cell voltage of 1.488 V was needed at 10 mA cm⁻² for alkaline overall water splitting.     

有序介孔碳CMK-3的化学活化及储氢性能

选用KOH、NaOH、H3PO4对有序介孔碳CMK-3进行了活化,通过X射线衍射、低温氮吸附-脱附等对样品进行了表征,发现活化后样品的结构发生了巨大的变化。有序介孔碳CMK-3的有序性逐渐降低,比表面积明显增大,2 nm介孔明显增多。讨论了CMK-3和KOH质量比、活化温度、不同活化剂对活化效果的影响。储氢测试表明活化能够明显提高CMK-3的储氢性能,77K、100 kPa时的储氢性能高达2.32wt%。     

盐封后碳化钼电催化剂的制备及其氢析出性能

Molybdenum carbide is regarded as an excellent substitute for Pt-based catalysts in the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER), owing to its low cost, superior catalytic performance, and long-term stability. In this work, salt-sealed molybdenum carbide was prepared using sodium molybdate and 2, 6-diaminopyridine as the reactive raw materials, followed by continuous salt sealing and calcination of the precursor under an inert atmosphere. The morphology, composition and structure of salt-sealed molybdenum carbide were determined by scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy (TEM), energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The results indicate that salt-sealed molybdenum carbide has irregular morphology and includes nanoparticles and nanorods. A comparison of the TEM images of Mo₂C with salt sealing (Mo₂C/SS) and Mo₂C without salt sealing (Mo₂C) indicates that Mo₂C/SS exhibits a smaller particle size. This suggests that salt sealing can efficiently avoid particle aggregation. The Brunauer-Emmett- Teller (BET) specific surface area of the catalysts was obtained from nitrogen adsorption/desorption isotherms. The increase in BET surface area from 2.55 to 8.14 m²·g⁻¹ after salt sealing provides evidence for the formation of pores in the product. The results of XRD, EDS and XPS analyses show that Mo₂C/SS has an orthorhombic crystal structure with molybdenum oxides on the surface, which may originate from surface oxidation. Considering the results of XPS and the turnover frequency (TOF) calculation, we can conclude that the formation of pores via salt sealing contributes to the exposure of more active sites, while simultaneously enlarging the contact area with oxygen. Therefore, higher molybdenum oxide content is generated on the surface, resulting in a lower proportion of active centers (molybdenum carbides) on the catalyst surface. Furthermore, the pseudocapacitance generated by the faradaic reaction of molybdenum oxides is superimposed on the double-layer capacitance of Mo₂C catalysts, which increases the double layer capacitance. Since the effect of pseudo-capacitance on Mo₂C/SS is more significant, the TOF number declines after salt sealing. Compared with Mo₂C, Mo₂C/SS exhibits three features that promote HER mass activity: (1) the generation of large quantities of pores via salt sealing leads to an increase in the BET surface area and exposure of more active sites, which is beneficial for improving HER performance; (2) the porous structure and enlarged surface area pave the way for effective mass and charge transfer; (3) the decrease of the Tafel slope from 145 to 88 mV·dec⁻¹. In summary, salt-sealed Mo₂C exhibited enhanced HER activity with an overpotential of 175 mV to achieve a current density of 10 mA·cm⁻². The Tafel slope for HER on salt-sealed Mo₂C is 88 mV·dec⁻¹. This can be considered as the proof of the Volmer-Heyrovsky mechanism with electrochemical desorption as the rate-determining step.     

Surface functionalization of ordered mesoporous carbons--a comparative study

Hexagonally structured mesoporous carbons C15 and CMK-5 and cubically structured carbon C48 were synthesized using ordered silica SBA-15 and MCM-48 as templates and carbon precursors of different structures. The surfaces of these ordered carbons were chemically functionalized by employing an approach, in which the selected diazonium compounds were in situ generated and reacted with the carbon frameworks of the mesoporous carbons. The aromatic organic molecules containing chlorine, ester, and alkyl groups were covalently attached to the surface of these ordered mesoporous carbons. The presence of functional groups on the modified carbons was confirmed with Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, thermogravimetric analysis, and nitrogen adsorption. The BET-specific surface area and the pore width of ordered carbons were significantly reduced, whereas the primary structure of these ordered carbons and their unit cells were intact. Basically, the density of grafted functional groups is related to the specific surface area of the sample, particularly the surface area of mesopores. The surface functionalization reaction takes place only on the external surface of carbon C15, while it occurs on both of the internal and external surface of CMK-5 carbon with the nanopipe structure. The presence of the micropores in CMK-5 carbon should be responsible for its lower grafting density because the small micropores are inaccessible in the reaction. It was also proposed that the preferred adsorption/reaction in C48 may be related to the observed unsymmetrical degradation of the XRD patterns for the functionalized C48 samples. The chemical modification process considerably reduced the primary mesopores in these ordered carbons by approximately 1-1.5 nm, affording carbons with micropores in the cases of C15 and C48, and mixed micropores and small mesopores in the case of CMK-5. A grafting density of approximately 0.9-1.5 micromol/m(2) was achieved under current research.     

High-performance titanium dioxide photocatalyst on ordered mesoporous carbon support

Anatase TiO₂ photocatalysts supported with the ordered mesoporous carbon, CMK-3, were synthesized by the incorporation of TiO₂ into CMK-3 followed by heating at 700 °C. The structural properties of the TiO₂ on CMK-3 were investigated by X-ray diffraction, nitrogen physisorption and electron microscopy techniques. In particular, TiO₂ was observed both inside and the external surface of CMK-3. The photocatalytic activity of TiO₂ on CMK-3 under UV-light exhibited higher efficiency in removing the Rhodamine 6G dye solution than the commercial photocatalyst P25 and TiO₂ on activated carbon. It was attributed to the synergistic effect of large surface area adsorption provided by mesoporous CMK-3 and the distinctive location of TiO₂ on the external surface of CMK-3.     

A Redox‐anchoring Approach to Well‐dispersed MoCx/C Nanocomposite for Efficient Electrocatalytic Hydrogen Evolution

Here we report a redox‐anchoring strategy for synthesizing a non‐noble metal carbide (MoC_x) nanocomposite electrocatalyst for water electrolysis in acidic media, using glucose and ammonium heptamolybdate as carbon and Mo precursors, respectively, without the need of gaseous carbon sources such as CH₄. Specifically, the aldehyde groups of glucose are capable of reducing Mo⁶⁺ to Mo⁴⁺ (MoO₂), and thus molybdenum species can be well anchored by a redox reaction onto a carbon matrix to prevent the aggregation of MoC_x nanoparticles during the following carbonization process. The morphology and chemical composition of the electrocatalysts were well characterized by BSE‐SEM, TEM, XRD and XPS. The obtained MoC_x−2 sample showed a reasonably high hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) activity and excellent stability in an acidic electrolyte, and its overpotential required for a current density output of 20 mA cm⁻² is as low as 193 mV. Such a prominent performance is ascribed to the excellent dispersity and nano‐size, and the large reactive surface area of MoC_x particles. This work may open a new way to the design and fabrication of other non‐noble metal carbide nanocatalysts for various electrochemical applications.