Frontispiece: Activating Lattice Oxygen in Spinel ZnCo2O4 through Filling Oxygen Vacancies with Fluorine for Electrocatalytic Oxygen Evolution

The development of productive catalysts for the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) remains a major challenge requiring significant progress in both mechanism and material design. Conventionally, the thermodynamic barrier of lattice oxidation mechanism (LOM) is lower than that of absorbate evolution mechanism (AEM) because the former can overcome certain limitations. However, controlling the OER pathway from the AEM to the LOM by exploiting the intrinsic properties of the catalyst remains challenging. Herein, we incorporated F anions into the oxygen vacancies of spinel ZnCo₂O₄ and established a link between the electronic structure and the OER catalytic mechanism. Theoretical density calculations revealed that F upshifts the O 2p center and activates the redox capability of lattice O, successfully triggering the LOM pathway. Moreover, the high electronegativity of F anions is favourable for balancing the residual protonation, which can stabilize the structure of the catalyst.     

氧缺位型TiO2的制备、表征及其光催化析氧活性

采用69 ℃饱和水蒸气和H2混合气, 于927 ℃下处理金红石型TiO2, 得到不同氧缺位的光催化剂, 并用X射线衍射(XRD)、比表面(BET)、电子顺磁共振(EPR)、紫外-可见漫反射(DRS)、光电子能谱(XPS)对其进行了表征. 考察了热处理时间对氧缺位型TiO2光催化分解水析氧活性的影响. 结果表明, 适量的氧缺位能显著提高金红石型TiO2光催化分解水的析氧活性, 其最大析氧速率达222 μmol·L-1·h-1.     

Durable Electrocatalytic Reduction of Nitrate to Ammonia over Defective Pseudobrookite Fe2TiO5 Nanofibers with Abundant Oxygen Vacancies

We propose the pseudobrookite Fe₂TiO₅ nanofiber with abundant oxygen vacancies as a new electrocatalyst to ambiently reduce nitrate to ammonia. Such catalyst achieves a large NH₃ yield of 0.73 mmol h⁻¹ mg⁻¹_cat. and a high Faradaic Efficiency (FE) of 87.6 % in phosphate buffer saline solution with 0.1 M NaNO₃, which is lifted to 1.36 mmol h⁻¹ mg⁻¹_cat. and 96.06 % at −0.9 V vs. RHE for nitrite conversion to ammonia in 0.1 M NaNO₂. It also shows excellent electrochemical durability and structural stability. Theoretical calculation reveals the enhanced conductivity of this catalyst and an extremely low free energy of −0.28 eV for nitrate adsorption at the presence of vacant oxygen.     

Low Ruthenium Content Confined on Boron Carbon Nitride as an Efficient and Stable Electrocatalyst for Acidic Oxygen Evolution Reaction

To date, only a few noble metal oxides exhibit the required efficiency and stability as oxygen evolution reaction (OER) catalysts under the acidic, high-voltage conditions that exist during proton exchange membrane water electrolysis (PEMWE). The high cost and scarcity of these catalysts hinder the large-scale application of PEMWE. Here, we report a novel OER electrocatalyst for OER comprised of uniformly dispersed Ru clusters confined on boron carbon nitride (BCN) support. Compared to RuO₂, our BCN-supported catalyst shows enhanced charge transfer. It displays a low overpotential of 164 mV at a current density of 10 mA cm⁻², suggesting its excellent OER catalytic activity. This catalyst was able to operate continuously for over 12 h under acidic conditions, whereas RuO₂ without any support fails in 1 h. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations confirm that the interaction between the N on BCN support and Ru clusters changes the adsorption capacity and reduces the OER energy barrier, which increases the electrocatalytic activity of Ru.     

Hydride-containing 2-Electron Pd/Cu Superatoms as Catalysts for Efficient Electrochemical Hydrogen Evolution

The first hydride-containing 2-electron palladium/copper alloys, [PdHCu₁₁{S₂P(OⁱPr)₂}₆(C≡CPh)₄] ( PdHCu₁₁ ) and [PdHCu₁₂{S₂P(OⁱPr)₂}₅{S₂PO(OⁱPr)} (C≡CPh)₄] ( PdHCu₁₂ ), are synthesized from the reaction of [PdH₂Cu₁₄{S₂P(OⁱPr)₂}₆(C≡CPh)₆] ( PdH₂Cu₁₄ ) with trifluoroacetic acid (TFA). X-ray diffraction reveals that the PdHCu₁₁ and PdHCu₁₂ kernels consist of a central PdH unit encapsulated within a vertex-missing Cu₁₁ cuboctahedron and complete Cu₁₂ cuboctahedron, respectively. DFT calculations indicate that both PdHCu₁₁ and PdHCu₁₂ can be considered as axially-distorted 2-electron superatoms. PdHCu₁₁ shows excellent HER activity, unprecedented within metal nanoclusters, with an onset potential of −0.05 V (at 10 mA cm⁻²), a Tafel slope of 40 mV dec⁻¹, and consistent HER activity during 1000 cycles in 0.5 M H₂SO₄. Our study suggests that the accessible central Pd site is the key to HER activity and may provide guidelines for correlating catalyst structures and HER activity.     

Pt/TiO2光诱导催化重整乙醇制氢

对无氧条件下Pt/TiO2光诱导催化重整乙醇制氢进行了系统的研究，结果表明，乙醇的光催化重整制氢反应受催化剂表面化学状态，反应体系的pH值，浓度的影响较大，而受反应体系温度的影响较小，在运动XRD，XPS，HNMR等技术手段对催化剂和反应产物进行表征，分析的基础上，提出了无氧条件下乙醇光催化重整制氢可能的反应机理。     

Pt/TiO2纳米纤维的制备及其对甲醇的电催化氧化活性

采用静电纺丝技术结合还原浸渍法制备了Pt/TiO₂纳米纤维电催化剂, 通过X射线衍射(XRD)分析、扫描电镜(SEM)、透射电镜(TEM)和X射线能谱(EDS)等测试手段对样品的晶相、形貌、微结构和化学组成进行了表征. 测试结果表明, TiO₂纳米纤维为锐钛矿和金红石组成的混晶, Pt 纳米颗粒均匀地分布于TiO₂纳米纤维的表面, 且Pt 颗粒大小较均一, 平均粒径为4.0 nm, Pt/TiO₂纳米纤维中Pt 的质量分数约为20%. 采用三电极体系的循环伏安和计时电流电化学分析方法研究了样品在酸性溶液中对甲醇的电催化氧化活性, 结果表明, 与负载相同质量分数Pt 的Pt/P25 和商业Pt/C 催化剂相比较, Pt/TiO₂纳米纤维催化剂对甲醇呈现出较高的电催化氧化活性和更好的稳定性.     

Stabilizing Low-Valence Single Atoms by Constructing Metalloid Tungsten Carbide Supports for Efficient Hydrogen Oxidation and Evolution

Designing novel single-atom catalysts (SACs) supports to modulate the electronic structure is crucial to optimize the catalytic activity, but rather challenging. Herein, a general strategy is proposed to utilize the metalloid properties of supports to trap and stabilize single-atoms with low-valence states. A series of single-atoms supported on the surface of tungsten carbide (M-WC_x, M=Ru, Ir, Pd) are rationally developed through a facile pyrolysis method. Benefiting from the metalloid properties of WC_x, the single-atoms exhibit weak coordination with surface W and C atoms, resulting in the formation of low-valence active centers similar to metals. The unique metal-metal interaction effectively stabilizes the low-valence single atoms on the WC_x surface and improves the electronic orbital energy level distribution of the active sites. As expected, the representative Ru-WC_x exhibits superior mass activities of 7.84 and 62.52 A mg_Ru⁻¹ for the hydrogen oxidation and evolution reactions (HOR/HER), respectively. In-depth mechanistic analysis demonstrates that an ideal dual-sites cooperative mechanism achieves a suitable adsorption balance of H_ad and OH_ad, resulting in an energetically favorable Volmer step. This work offers new guidance for the precise construction of highly active SACs.     

A BiVO4 Photoanode with a VOx Layer Bearing Oxygen Vacancies Offers Improved Charge Transfer and Oxygen Evolution Kinetics in Photoelectrochemical Water Splitting

Sluggish oxygen evolution kinetics are one of the key limitations of bismuth vanadate (BiVO₄) photoanodes for efficient photoelectrochemical (PEC) water splitting. To address this issue, we report a vanadium oxide (VO_x) with enriched oxygen vacancies conformally grown on BiVO₄ photoanodes by a simple photo-assisted electrodeposition process. The optimized BiVO₄/VO_x photoanode exhibits a photocurrent density of 6.29 mA cm⁻² at 1.23 V versus the reversible hydrogen electrode under AM 1.5 G illumination, which is ca. 385 % as high as that of its pristine counterpart. A high charge-transfer efficiency of 96 % is achieved and stable PEC water splitting is realized, with a photocurrent retention rate of 88.3 % upon 40 h of testing. The excellent PEC performance is attributed to the presence of oxygen vacancies in VO_x that forms undercoordinated sites, which strengthen the adsorption of water molecules onto the active sites and promote charge transfer during the oxygen evolution reaction. This work demonstrates the potential of vanadium-based catalysts for PEC water oxidation.     

氧缺陷TiO2-B作为可充电锂离子电池负极材料的第一性原理研究

利用对氧缺陷的TiO₂-B材料进行密度泛函理论的计算,阐述了氧空穴对于TiO₂-B材料的电化学性质的影响。计算研究主要聚焦于缺陷材料的锂离子迁移和电子导电性等基本问题。计算结果表明在低锂离子浓度下(x(Li/Ti)≤ 0.25),相比于无缺陷的TiO₂-B,氧缺陷TiO₂-B有着更高的插入电压和更低的b轴方向迁移活化能,意味着锂离子的嵌入也更容易,这对于可充电电池的充电过程是有利的。而在高浓度下(x(Li/Ti) = 1),锂饱和的氧缺陷TiO₂-B相较于无缺陷的TiO₂-B有着较低的插入电压,更有利于锂离子的脱嵌过程,这对于可充电电池的放电过程也是有利的。电子结构计算表明缺陷材料的禁带宽度在1.0-2.0 eV之间,低于无缺陷的材料的3.0 eV。主要态密度贡献者是Ti-Ov-3d,并且随着氧空穴的增加它的强度也变得更强。这就表明氧缺陷TiO₂-B有更好的电子导电性。     

几种低碳醇在Pt／TiO2上的光催化产氢速率的研究

主要考察了无氧条件下低碳醇（甲、乙、丙醇）在Pt/TiO2表面光催化重整反应制氢。深入探讨了几种低碳醇与其放氢速率的构-效关系,提出了低碳醇在Pt/TiO2光催化剂表面吸附态的模型。     

Tuning Binding Strength of Multiple Intermediates towards Efficient pH-universal Electrocatalytic Hydrogen Evolution by Mo8O26-NbNxOy Heterocatalysts

Developing efficient and robust hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) catalysts for scalable and sustainable hydrogen production through electrochemical water splitting is strategic and challenging. Herein, heterogeneous Mo₈O₂₆-NbN_xO_y supported on N-doped graphene (defined as Mo₈O₂₆-NbN_xO_y/NG) is synthesized by controllable hydrothermal reaction and nitridation process. The O-exposed Mo₈O₂₆ clusters covalently confined on NbN_xO_y nanodomains provide a distinctive interface configuration and appropriate electronic structure, where fully exposed multiple active sites give excellent HER performance beyond commercial Pt/C catalyst in pH-universal electrolytes. Theoretical studies reveal that the Mo₈O₂₆-NbN_xO_y interface with electronic reconstruction affords near-optimal hydrogen adsorption energy and enhanced initial H₂O adsorption. Furthermore, the terminal O atoms in Mo₈O₂₆ clusters cooperate with Nb atoms to promote the initial H₂O adsorption, and subsequently reduce the H₂O dissociation energy, accelerating the entire HER kinetics.     

葡萄糖在碳纳米管/纳米TiO2膜载Pt复合电极上的电催化氧化

用电化学循环伏安法和计时电位法研究了葡萄糖在碳纳米管／纳米TiO2膜载Pt(CNT／nano-TiO2／Pt)复合电极上的电催化氧化,结果表明,在碱性介质中CNT／nano-TiO2／Pt复合电极对葡萄糖的电氧化具有高催化活性,葡萄糖氧化峰电流密度高达13mA／cm^2,比铂电极上的增大一倍;复合电极性能稳定,抗中毒能力强,不易发生氧化振荡,是葡萄糖燃料电池和葡萄糖传感器的高活性催化电极。     

Ligand Modulation of Active Sites to Promote Cobalt-Doped 1T-MoS2 Electrocatalytic Hydrogen Evolution in Alkaline Media

Highly efficient hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) electrocatalyst will determine the mass distributions of hydrogen-powered clean technologies, while still faces grand challenges. In this work, a synergistic ligand modulation plus Co doping strategy is applied to 1T−MoS₂ catalyst via CoMo-metal-organic frameworks precursors, boosting the HER catalytic activity and durability of 1T−MoS₂. Confirmed by Cs corrected transmission electron microscope and X-ray absorption spectroscopy, the polydentate 1,2-bis(4-pyridyl)ethane ligand can stably link with two-dimensional 1T−MoS₂ layers through cobalt sites to expand interlayer spacing of MoS₂ (Co−1T−MoS₂-bpe), which promotes active site exposure, accelerates water dissociation, and optimizes the adsorption and desorption of H in alkaline HER processes. Theoretical calculations indicate the promotions in the electronic structure of 1T−MoS₂ originate in the formation of three-dimensional metal-organic constructs by linking π-conjugated ligand, which weakens the hybridization between Mo-3d and S-2p orbitals, and in turn makes S-2p orbital more suitable for hybridization with H-1s orbital. Therefore, Co−1T−MoS₂-bpe exhibits excellent stability and exceedingly low overpotential for alkaline HER (118 mV at 10 mA cm⁻²). In addition, integrated into an anion-exchange membrane water electrolyzer, Co−1T−MoS₂-bpe is much superior to the Pt/C catalyst at the large current densities. This study provides a feasible ligand modulation strategy for designs of two-dimensional catalysts.     

Bifunctional Electrocatalyst with 0D/2D Heterostructure for Highly Efficient Hydrogen and Oxygen Generation

A novel MoS₂ quantum dots/CoSe₂ nanosheet (MoS₂ QDs/CoSe₂) hybrid with 0D/2D heterostructure has been developed. The CoSe₂ nanosheets (NSs) enable an excellent oxygen evolution reaction (OER) activity with increasing vacancy configuration on one hand, while the MoS₂ QDs serve as an eminent hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) catalyst on the other. By integrating MoS₂ QDs and CoSe₂ NSs, the hybrid exhibits excellent electrocatalytic performances in HER and OER. The unique 0D/2D hetero‐interface increases the exposed active sites and facilitates electron transfer, thereby boosting the electrocatalytic activity. Relatively low overpotentials of 82 mV and 280 mV are required to drive the current density of 10 mA/cm² for HER and OER, with corresponding Tafel slopes of 69 and 75 mV/dec, respectively. As such, this work provides an efficient yet simple approach to construct bifunctional electrocatalysts with enhanced activity and stability.     

金属性二维过渡金属硫化物的溶剂热合成及电催化析氢性能

采用溶剂热法制备了多种二维过渡金属硫化物(TMDCs), 在合成过程中通过调控反应前驱体的滴加速率来控制所得TMDCs的形貌和结构. 然后采用高温热处理来提高TMDCs的结晶性, 从而提升了其电催化活性. 在酸性电解液中进行电催化析氢性能测试. 结果表明, “花状”结构的金属性二维二硫化铌(NbS₂)具有最佳的催化活性和稳定性, 在电流密度为10 mA/cm²时, 其过电位仅为146 mV, 持续工作24 h后电流密度几乎不衰减. 研究发现, 可充分暴露面内活性位点的“花状”结构以及高温处理后材料导电性的提高是二维NbS₂具有优异电催化性能的主要因素.     

Hydrogen Evolution on Electrode-Supported Ptn Clusters: Ensemble of Hydride States Governs the Size Dependent Reactivity

We report the size-dependent activity and stability of supported Pt_1,4,7,8 for electrocatalytic hydrogen evolution reaction, and show that clusters outperform polycrystalline Pt in activity, with size-dependent stability. To understand the size effects, we use DFT calculations to study the structural fluxionality under varying potentials. We show that the clusters can reshape under H coverage and populate an ensemble of states with diverse stoichiometry, structure, and thus reactivity. Both experiment and theory suggest that electrocatalytic species are hydridic states of the clusters (≈2 H/Pt). An ensemble-based kinetic model reproduces the experimental activity trend and reveals the role of metastable states. The stability trend is rationalized by chemical bonding analysis. Our joint study demonstrates the potential- and adsorbate-coverage-dependent fluxionality of subnano clusters of different sizes and offers a systematic modeling strategy to tackle the complexities.     

Promoting the Phosphidation Process using an Oxygen Vacancy Precursor for Efficient Hydrogen Evolution Reaction

Based on previous works, most of the transition metal phosphides (TMPs) were directly prepared by decomposing NaH₂PO₂ with the precursors at high temperatures, which resulted in different degrees of phosphidation in the final product. Therefore, it is necessary to design an innovative approach to enhance the degree of phosphidation in the material using crystal defects. Here, oxygen-vacancy iron oxide/iron foam (Ov-Fe₂O₃/IF) was firstly prepared by generating oxygen vacancy in situ in an iron foam through heating in vacuum conditions. Subsequently, FeP/IF was formed by phosphating Ov-Fe₂O₃/IF. Under the effects of oxygen vacancies, oxygen-vacancy iron oxide could be completely phosphatized to produce more active sites on the surface of the material. This, in turn, could result in a catalyst with exceptional hydrogen evolution activity. Thus, the successful fabrication of FeP/IF demonstrated in this work provides an effective and feasible way for the preparation of other high-efficiency catalysts.     

以葡萄糖和蔗糖为电子给体在Pt/TiO2上光催化制氢

以Pt/TiO2为催化剂, 研究了以葡萄糖和蔗糖为电子给体的光催化制氢反应以及有机物自身的去除效果.