Does a Thermoneutral Electrocatalyst Correspond to the Apex of a Volcano Plot for a Simple Two-Electron Process?

Volcano analyses have been established as a standard tool in the field of electrocatalysis for assessing the performance of electrodes in a class of materials. The apex of the volcano curve, where the most active electrocatalysts are situated, is commonly defined by a hypothetical ideal material that binds its reaction intermediates thermoneutrally at zero overpotential, in accordance with Sabatier's principle. However, recent studies report a right shift of the apex in a volcano curve, in which the most active electrocatalysts bind their reaction intermediates endergonically rather than thermoneutrally at zero overpotential. Focusing on two-electron process, this Viewpoint addresses the question of how the definition of an optimum catalyst needs to be modified with respect to the requirements of Sabatier's principle when kinetic effects and the applied overpotential are included in the analysis.     

Does a Thermoneutral Electrocatalyst Correspond to the Apex of a Volcano Plot for a Simple Two‐Electron Process?

Volcano analyses have been established as a standard tool in the field of electrocatalysis for assessing the performance of electrodes in a class of materials. The apex of the volcano curve, where the most active electrocatalysts are situated, is commonly defined by a hypothetical ideal material that binds its reaction intermediates thermoneutrally at zero overpotential, in accordance with Sabatier's principle. However, recent studies report a right shift of the apex in a volcano curve, in which the most active electrocatalysts bind their reaction intermediates endergonically rather than thermoneutrally at zero overpotential. Focusing on two‐electron process, this Viewpoint addresses the question of how the definition of an optimum catalyst needs to be modified with respect to the requirements of Sabatier's principle when kinetic effects and the applied overpotential are included in the analysis.     

Supercharged CO2 Photothermal Catalytic Methanation: High Conversion,Rate, and Selectivity

To overcome the thermodynamic and kinetic impediments of the Sabatier CO₂ methanation reaction, the process must be operated under very high temperature and pressure conditions, to obtain an industrially viable conversion, rate, and selectivity. Herein, we report that these technologically relevant performance metrics have been achieved under much milder conditions using solar rather than thermal energy, where the methanation reaction is enabled by a novel nickel-boron nitride catalyst. In this regard, an in situ generated HOB⋅⋅⋅B surface frustrated Lewis's pair is considered responsible for the high Sabatier conversion 87.68 %, reaction rate 2.03 mol g_Ni⁻¹h⁻¹, and near 100 % selectivity, realized under ambient pressure conditions. This discovery bodes well for an opto-chemical engineering strategy aimed at the development and implementation of a sustainable ‘Solar Sabatier’ methanation process.     

Statistical theory for hydrogen bonding fluid system of A a D d type (I): The geometrical phase transition

The influence of hydrogen bonds on the physical and chemical properties of hydrogen bonding fluid system of A _a D _d type is investigated from two viewpoints by the principle of statistical mechanics. In detail, we proposed two new ways that can be used to obtain the equilibrium size distribution of the hydrogen bonding clusters, and derived the analytical expression of a relationship between the hydrogen bonding free energy and hydrogen bonding degree. For the nonlinear hydrogen bonding systems, it is shown that the sol-gel phase transition can take place under proper conditions, which is further proven to be a kind of geometrical phase transition rather than a thermodynamic one. Moreover, several problems associated with the geometrical phase transition and liquid-solid phase transition in nonlinear hydrogen bonding systems are discussed.     

Synthesis of an electro-catalyst based on a cobalt(II) complex with dimethylaminoethylamino-N,N-bis(2-methylene-4-tert-butyl-6-methylphenol)

A catalyst based on [LCo(H₂O)] (1) is formed by the reaction of dimethylaminoethylamino-N,N-bis(2-methylene-4-tert-butyl-6-methyl)phenol (H₂L) with CoBr₂ for electrolytic proton or water reduction. 1 catalyzes hydrogen evolution, both from acetic acid with a turnover frequency (TOF) of 17.9 mol of hydrogen per mole of catalyst per hour at an overpotential of 792 mV (in DMF) and from water with a TOF of 260 mol of hydrogen per mole of catalyst per hour at an overpotential of 889 mV (in buffer, pH 7.0).     

Influence of the Oxide Content in the Catalytic Power of Raney Nickel in Hydrogen Generation

The influence of oxides in the hydrogen evolution on Raney nickel electrocatalysts was characterized by electrochemical impedance measurements. In addition, these materials show competitive overpotentials for hydrogen evolution with a modified Watts bath as a binder for the Raney nickel. The optimum result was ?190?mV of overpotential at 100?mA?cm^?2. Oxygen in the Raney Ni catalyst affects its electroactivity toward hydrogen evolution. The source of oxygen is related to the presence of chloride ions in the modified Watts bath. A Watts bath binds Raney Ni particles to the surface of the catalysts and chloride regulates the oxygen content in the nickel binder during electrodeposition. High oxygen content increases the hydrogen evolution overpotential of the electrode. The electroactivity of the synthesized porous coatings was evaluated by polarization curves and impedance plots. In addition, surface characterization by X-ray diffraction, field emission–scanning electron microscopy equipped with energy-dispersive analysis, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy is reported.     

Sabatier Relations in Electrocatalysts Based on High-entropy Alloys with Wide-distributed d-band Centers for Li-O2 Batteries

Li-O₂ battery (LOB) is a promising “beyond Li-ion” technology with ultrahigh theoretical energy density (3457 Wh kg⁻¹), while currently impeded by the sluggish cathodic kinetics of the reversible gas-solid reaction between O₂ and Li₂O₂. Despite many catalysts are developed for accelerating the conversion process, the lack of design guidance for achieving high performance makes catalysts exploring aleatory. The Sabatier principle is an acknowledged theory connecting the scaling relationship with heterogeneous catalytic activity, providing a tradeoff strategy for the topmost performance. Herein, a series of catalysts with wide-distributed d-band centers (i.e., wide range of adsorption strength) are elaborately constructed via high-entropy strategy, enabling an in-depth study of the Sabatier relations in electrocatalysts for LOBs. A volcano-type correlation of d-band center and catalytic activity emerges. Both theoretical and experimental results indicate that a moderate d-band center with appropriate adsorption strength propels the catalysts up to the top. As a demonstration of concept, the LOB using FeCoNiMnPtIr as catalyst provides an exceptional energy conversion efficiency of over 80 %, and works steadily for 2000 h with a high fixed specific capacity of 4000 mAh g⁻¹. This work certifies the applicability of Sabatier principle as a guidance for designing advanced heterogeneous catalysts assembled in LOBs.     

Investigation of materials based on intermetallic compounds of the CeNi3-CeCo3 system and a polymeric binding material

A study has been made of electrode materials based on intermetallic compounds (IMC) of the CeNi₃CeCo₃ series and a polymeric binding material, polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE).It was shown that the nature of the electrode material interaction with hydrogen is similar to that of an individual IMC. The dissociation pressures of the hydride phases of CeNi₃, CeNi₂Co and CeNiCo₂ at 293–333 K were established, as well as the main thermodynamic constants (δH, δS) characterizing the invariant equilibrium trihydrides ⤦ monohydrides in the investigated systems. Using electrochemical extraction, the formal hydrogen diffusion coefficients in IMCs and PTFE-based materials were evaluated. A study was made of the electrocatalytic activity of IMC-based materials of the CeNi₃CeCo₃ series in hydrogen-evolution reactions in alkaline solution.     

The preparation of ionic liquid based iron phosphate/CNTs composite via microwave radiation for hydrogen evolution reaction and oxygen evolution reaction

Water electrolysis is a promising method for hydrogen production, so the preparation of low-cost and efficient electrocatalysts with a quick and simple procedure is crucial. Herein, iron phosphate (Fe₇(PO₄)₆) was prepared via microwave radiation using ionic liquid (IL) as iron and phosphorus dual-source. This method is simple and rapid, and the product can be directly used as electrocatalysts without further treatment. The experimental results show that the IL can influence the morphology and electrocatalytic performance. Moreover, the addition of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) is favorable for formation of iron phosphate nanoparticles to improve the catalytic activities. As hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) catalyst, this iron phosphate/CNTs exhibits an onset overpotential of 120 mV, Tafel slope of 32.9 mV dec^-1, and current densities of 10 mA cm⁻² at overpotential of 185 mV. Then, it obtains a good activity for oxygen evolution reaction (OER) with a low onset potential of 1.48 V, Tafel slope of 73.3 mV dec^-1, and it only needs an overpotential of 300 mV to drive the 10 mA cm⁻². This bifunctional catalyst also shows good durability for HER and OER. This microwave-assisted method provides an outstanding strategy to prepare iron phosphate in a simple and fast process with good catalytic performance for water splitting.     

Kinetisch-katalytische Bestimmungen in einem zweiphasensystem unter verwendung eines fallrohres

A rather simple method for kinetic-catalytic determinations is described, in which the reactants are dissolved in two immiscible liquid phases. Drops of the heavier phase fall through the lighter one contained in a vertical glass tube. As the drops fall, the reactants come into contact with each other at the interface, thus causing a change in the drops. The length of fall needed for completion of reaction is a measure of the concentration of the catalyst (e.g., decolorization of the drops in the determination of copper by the reaction between iron(III) and thiosulphate). If a gaseous reaction product is formed (e.g., N₂ or O₂) and adsorbed on the falling drop, then the drop stops falling and rises again. The depth of fall or the time needed for the drop to return to the upper end of the tube can be used as a measure for the concentration of catalyst (e.g., determination of thiosulphate with the iodine/azide reaction, or of copper as catalyst for the decomposition of hydrogen peroxide).     

Efficient and Robust Hydrogen Evolution: Phosphorus Nitride Imide Nanotubes as Supports for Anchoring Single Ruthenium Sites

Amorphous phosphorus nitride imide nanotubes (HPN) are reported as a novel substrate to stabilize materials containing single‐metal sites. Abundant dangling unsaturated P vacancies play a role in stabilization. Ruthenium single atoms (SAs) are successfully anchored by strong coordination interactions between the d orbitals of Ru and the lone pair electrons of N located in the HPN matrix. The atomic dispersion of Ru atoms can be distinguished by X‐ray absorption fine structure measurements and spherical aberration correction electron microscopy. Importantly, Ru SAs@PN is an excellent electrocatalyst for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) in 0.5 m H₂SO₄, delivering a low overpotential of 24 mV at 10 mA cm^?2 and a Tafel slope of 38 mV dec^?1. The catalyst exhibits robust stability in a constant current test at a large current density of 162 mA cm^?2 for more than 24 hours, and is operative for 5000 cycles in a cyclic voltammetry test. Additionally, Ru SAs@PN presents a turnover frequency (TOF) of 1.67 H₂ s^?1 at 25 mV, and 4.29 H₂ s^?1 at 50 mV, in 0.5 m H₂SO₄ solution, outperforming most of the reported hydrogen evolution catalysts. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations further demonstrate that the Gibbs free energy of adsorbed H* over the Ru SAs on PN is much closer to zero compared with the Ru/C and Ru SAs supported on carbon and C₃N₄, thus considerably facilitating the overall HER performance.     

State and properties of ion-exchanged cations in zeolites: 1. IR spectra and chemical activation of adsorbed molecular hydrogen

Adsorption isotherms and of adsorbed molecular hydrogen indicate that H₂ is weakly adsorbed by alkali-metal forms of faujasites, mordenite, and high-silica zeolite ZSM-5. The alkaline-earth forms of the same zeolites adsorb hydrogen somewhat more strongly; nevertheless, the hydrogen molecules adsorbed by the barium form of mordenite are in the hindered rotation state. Molecular hydrogen is most strongly adsorbed by the zinc and cadmium forms of the high-silica zeolite. In this case, molecular hydrogen is strongly polarized and undergoes heterolytic dissociative adsorption, yielding acidic hydroxyl groups and cation-bound hydride ions.     

Preparation, characterization, activity and selectivity of highly loaded oxide promoted ruthenium catalysts for selective hydrogenation of benzene to cyclohexene

Summary The influence of promoters and precipitants of the catalyst precursor on the activity and selectivity of the hydrogenation of benzene to cyclohexene catalyzed by highly loaded oxide-promoted Ru/ZrO₂catalysts, carried out in a tetraphase reactor (in the presence of an aqueous solution of ZnSO₄), at 423 K and 5 Mpa, was studied. The effect of hydrogen diffusion on the reaction kinetics and on the selectivity has been taken into consideration, the internal pore diffusion being actually the limiting step. Hydrogen chemisorption measurements indicate that the catalyst activity is not influenced by the Ru dispersion, but rather by weakly chemisorbed species.     

Pt-KL zeolite catalysts of different preparation: Part I. Catalyst characterization

0.8% Pt on KL zeolite was prepared by reduction with H₂ and NaBH₄. Transmission electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction were used for characterization of morphology of the metal particles; acidity of the zeolite framework was measured with IR spectra of adsorbed pyridine. Reduction by NaBHP₄ produced rather large, needle-like Pt crystallites on the outer surface of zeolite grains which contained very little acidity. Subsequent hydrogen treatment brought about their severe sintering; at the same time, small crystallites appeared. A bimodal distribution was seen when the catalyst was reduced with hydrogen; this sample exhibited appreciable acidity. X-ray diffraction data showed the presence of Pt particles above noise level in the case of borohydride-reduced catalyst only, in agreement with EM data.     

Exclusive Formation of Formic Acid from CO2 Electroreduction by a Tunable Pd‐Sn Alloy

Conversion of carbon dioxide (CO₂) into fuels and chemicals by electroreduction has attracted significant interest, although it suffers from a large overpotential and low selectivity. A Pd‐Sn alloy electrocatalyst was developed for the exclusive conversion of CO₂ into formic acid in an aqueous solution. This catalyst showed a nearly perfect faradaic efficiency toward formic acid formation at the very low overpotential of −0.26 V, where both CO formation and hydrogen evolution were completely suppressed. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations suggested that the formation of the key reaction intermediate HCOO* as well as the product formic acid was the most favorable over the Pd‐Sn alloy catalyst surface with an atomic composition of PdSnO₂, consistent with experiments.     

Statistical theory for hydrogen bonding fluid system of AaDd type (I): The geometrical phase transition

The influence of hydrogen bonds on the physical and chemical properties of hydrogen bonding fluid system of A _a D _d type is investigated from two viewpoints by the principle of statistical mechanics. In detail, we proposed two new ways that can be used to obtain the equilibrium size distribution of the hydrogen bonding clusters, and derived the analytical expression of a relationship between the hydrogen bonding free energy and hydrogen bonding degree. For the nonlinear hydrogen bonding systems, it is shown that the sol-gel phase transition can take place under proper conditions, which is further proven to be a kind of geometrical phase transition rather than a thermodynamic one. Moreover, several problems associated with the geometrical phase transition and liquid-solid phase transition in nonlinear hydrogen bonding systems are discussed.     

TiO2 nanorods based self-supported electrode of 1T/2H MoS2 nanosheets decorated by Ag nano-particles for efficient hydrogen evolution reaction

Molybdenum disulfide (MoS₂) has shown significant promise as an economic hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) catalyst for hydrogen generation, but its catalytic performance is still lower than noble metal-based catalysists. Herein, a silver nanoparticles (Ag NPs)-decorated 1T/2H phase layered MoS₂ electrocatalyst grown on titanium dioxide nanorod arrays (Ag NPs/1T(2H) MoS₂/TNRs) was prepared through acid-tunable ammonium ion intercalation. Taking advantage of MoS₂ layered structure and crystal phase controllability, as-prepared Ag NPs/1T(2H) MoS₂/TNRs exhibited ultrahigh HER activity. As-proposed strategy combines facile hydrogen desorption (Ag NPs) with efficient hydrogen adsorption (1T/2H MoS₂) effectively circumventes the kinetic limitation of hydrogen desorption by 1T/2H MoS₂. The as-prepared Ag NPs/1T(2H) MoS₂/TNRs electrocatalyst exhibited excellent HER activity in 0.5 mol/L H₂SO₄ with low overpotential (118 mV vs. reversible hydrogen electrode (RHE)) and small Tafel slope (38.61 mV/dec). The overpotential exhibts no obvious attenuation after 10 h of constant current flow. First-principles calculation demonstrates that as-prepared 1T/2H MoS₂ exhibit a large capacity to store protons. These protons can be subsequently transferred to Ag NPs, which significantly increases the hydrogen coverage on the surface of Ag NPs in HER process and thus change the rate-determining step of HER on Ag NPs from water dissociation to hydrogen recombination. This study provides a unique strategy to improve the catalytic activity and stability for MoS₂-based electrocatalyst.     

DFT study of hydrogen instability and magnetovolume effects in CeNi

Changes in electronic and magnetic structure due to hydrogen uptake within CeNi leading to the experimental hydride CeNiH₃, are examined ab initio for identifying the hydrogen positions and establishing the equations of state. Analyses of the site projected density of states and of the chemical bonding point to modifications of the electronic structure whereby hydrogen brings new states within the valence band and is found to preferably bind with Ni rather than with Ce. From energy differences hydrogen binds weakly to the lattice, in agreement with the instability of the hydrided binary intermetallic.     

Synthesis,characterization, and catalytic properties of a cobalt(II) complex supported by an amine-bis(phenolate) ligand

A cobalt(II) complex [L′CoPy] 1 was prepared by the reaction of dimethylaminoethylamino-N,N-bis(2,4-dibromo)phenol (H₂L′) with CoCl₂. Electrochemical studies indicate that this complex is among the most efficient homogeneous catalysts for water reduction, with a turnover frequency of 917.7 mol of hydrogen per mole of catalyst per hour at an overpotential of 636.7 mV (pH 7.0). Additionally, under photoirradiation with blue light (λ _max = 469 nm), complex 1 in combination with [Ru(bpy)₃]Cl₂ and ascorbic acid (pH 4.0 in aqueous solution) also produces hydrogen with a turnover number of 4.9 × 10⁵ mol of H₂ per mol of catalyst.     

Synthesis,characterization and electrocatalytic performance of a cobalt(II) complex of <Emphasis Type="Italic">N</Emphasis>-phenylpyridin-2-ylmethanimine

N-phenylpyridin-2-ylmethanimine, HL reacts with CoBr₂ to afford a water-soluble cobalt(II) complex [Co^II(HL)₂Br₂] 1, whose crystal structure has been determined by X-ray diffraction. Electrochemical studies show that this complex can electrocatalyze hydrogen generation from a neutral buffer with a turnover frequency (TOF) of 875.17 mol of hydrogen per mole of catalyst per hour (mol H₂/mol catalyst/h) at an overpotential (OP) of 837.6 mV. Compared with the cobalt complex 1, the previously described nickel(II) complex [Ni(HL)₂Cl₂] (970.45 mol H₂/mol catalyst/h at an OP of 837.6 mV) exhibits more efficient activity for hydrogen evolution.