三元合金氧还原电催化剂

质子交换膜燃料电池作为重要的电化学能源转换装置,在提高能量转换效率、减少环境污染等方面具有诱人的前景.然而,阴极氧还原过电位较大、活性较低、稳定性差,且铂基催化剂昂贵,使该燃料电池难以商业化.纳米结构电催化剂的发展有望解决此难题。对纳米合金电催化剂其组分和结构的设计是开发高活性、高稳定性和低成本的燃料电池电催化剂的重要因素.本文综述了近期由分子设计和热化学控制处理法制备的三元纳米合金电催化剂对燃料电池氧还原反应催化性能的最新进展.该方法可控制纳米合金的尺寸、组成以及二元和三元纳米催化剂的合金化程度.以高活性的三元纳米合金催化剂PtNiCo/C为例,综述了在设计燃料电池电催化剂时结构和组成的纳米级调优的重要性.PtNiCo/C电催化剂的质量比活性远高于其二元合金催化剂和Pt/C商业电催化剂.三元电催化剂的催化活性可通过控制其组成来调节.文章还讨论了三元纳米合金催化剂的结构及其协同效应对增强其电催化性能的影响.     

Pt-Cu合金纳米枝晶的合成及其氧还原催化性能

纳米材料的结构和化学成分对其催化性能的显著影响已经得到验证. 因此,本文通过一种简易的蚀刻方法,合成出具有均匀合金结构且尺寸和形貌均一的Pt-Cu纳米枝晶（NDs）作为高效氧还原（ORR）催化剂. 其树枝状形貌的形成得益于由Br^-/O₂氧化蚀刻剂引起的蚀刻效应. 通过改变Pt/Cu前驱体的比例可以容易地调节Pt-Cu NDs的Pt/Cu原子比,而不会使其树枝状形貌发生改变. 活性最高的碳载Pt₁Cu₁ NDs（Pt₁Cu₁ NDs/C）的面积比活性为1.17 mA·cm^-2@0.9V（vs. RHE）,约为商业Pt/C的5.32倍. 此外,Pt₁Cu₁ NDs/C还具有卓越的电化学耐久性,即使在经过加速衰减实验的12000个电势循环后仍保持其优异的ORR催化活性. Pt₁Cu₁ NDs/C优异的ORR催化活性和电化学耐久性得益于由其合金结构和枝晶形貌产生的电子效应和结构效应.     

Different Bonding Defects on Dual-Metal Single-Atom Electrocatalyst CoZnN6(OH) for Oxygen Reduction Reaction

Since dual-metal single-atom catalyst (CoZnN/C) has been experimentally synthesized by atomically arching CoZn on N-doped carbon nanofibers and exhibited potential electrocatalysis activity towards oxygen reduction reaction (ORR), we perform first-principles calculations to identify the highly active sites at different defects by comparing the four-step ORR processes on the constructed four CoZnN₆ models on graphene. The corresponding N-edge effect, dopant effect, and C-edge ring-closing effect are evaluated with the ORR evolution on different bonding environments, including pristine CoZnN₆(OH), nanoribbon (NR) along zigzag direction, substitution of carbon/oxygen (C/O substitution), and C-edge ring-closing configurations. OH-ligand is shown to significantly improve the ORR activities for all the considered structures. Especially, C-substituted CoZnN₆(OH), NR-CoZnN₅O(OH) and CoZnN₆(OH) with C-edge-effect exhibit obviously reduced overpotentials (η_lim=0.28, 0.48 and 0.41 V) of rate-determining steps among all the considered nine candidates. By plotting the relationship between the limiting potentials (U_lim) and free energies of intermediate *OH (ΔG_OH*), two prior catalysts of pristine-CoZnN₅C(OH) and defect-CoZnN₆CH(OH) are located near the top of the volcano curve with higher U_lim=0.95 and 0.82 V than Pt(111) (U_lim=0.80 V), implying that C-substitution could facilitate ORR performance in pristine- and defect-CoZnN₆(OH) bonding situation.     

Bio-inspired Design of Bidirectional Oxygen Reduction and Oxygen Evolution Reaction Molecular Electrocatalysts

The proper utilization of renewable energy sources has emerged as a major challenge in our pursuit of a sustainable and carbon-neutral energy landscape. Small molecule activation is a key component for proper utilization of renewable energy resources, where O₂/H₂O redox couple is reckoned to be a potential game changer. In this regard, electrocatalytic oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) and oxygen evolution reaction (OER) have become the prime interest of catalyst designers. Typically, these ORR and OER electrocatalysts are developed distinctly; however, very soon, the requirement of a bidirectional ORR/OER electrocatalyst becomes obvious for practical applicability and rapid energy transduction purposes. A bidirectional catalyst is defined as a catalyst capable of driving a redox reaction in opposing directions. This review has portrayed the development of enzyme structure-inspired design of molecular bidirectional ORR/OER catalysts. The strategic incorporation of secondary and outer coordination sphere features has significantly enhanced the performance of these catalysts, which can be monitored via the key catalytic parameters. These bifunctional OER/ORR catalysts are vital for metal-air battery and fuel cell applications and appropriately poised to lay the foundation for an efficient, economical, and eco-friendly pathway for sustainable energy usage with the rational assembly of energy converting and storage devices.     

Computational Assistance in the Design of Efficient Oxygen Reduction Reaction Electrocatalysts

Recently, theoretical calculations have played an irreplaceable role in the discovery of electrocatalysts as a relatively time-efficient, cost-effective, and predictable method. More importantly, theoretical calculations can help screen out the best active reaction sites and modulate them accordingly, which is beneficial for the development of efficient catalysts. In this concept, we focus on the important role of theoretical calculations in determining catalytic active sites and understanding reaction mechanisms, emphasizing its importance in assisting the design and synthesis of efficient oxygen reduction reaction catalysts. Finally, we provide an outlook on the challenges and future development trend in this field.     

Bifunctional Catalysts for Reversible Oxygen Evolution Reaction and Oxygen Reduction Reaction

Metal-air batteries (MABs) and reversible fuel cells (RFCs) rely on the bifunctional oxygen catalysts for oxygen evolution reaction (OER) and oxygen reduction reaction (ORR). Finding efficient bifunctional oxygen catalysts is the ultimate goal and it has attracted a great deal of attention. The dilemma is that a good ORR catalyst is not necessarily efficient for OER, and vice versa. Thus, the development of a new type of bifunctional oxygen catalysts should ensure that the catalysts exhibit high activity for both OER and ORR. Composites with multicomponents for active centers supported on highly conductive matrices could be able to meet the challenges and offering new opportunities. In this Review, the evolution of bifunctional catalysts is summarized and discussed aiming to deliver high-performance bifunctional catalysts with low overpotentials.     

锗纳米管催化的氧还原反应:催化性能和机理研究

应用密度泛函理论,在DZP基组水平上研究了（5,5）型锗纳米管催化的氧还原反应（ORR）的性能以及可能的催化机理.计算结果表明,ORR在锗纳米管上可能经历O₂解离、OOH解离、H₂O₂解离三种可能机理.无论是对哪种机理,整个ORR均遵循四电子反应路径.评估ORR性能的重要中间产物O和OH的吸附能分别为-4.33 eV和-2.21 eV,这与它们在贵金属铂（Pt）上的吸附能非常接近.此外,在GeNT上,整个ORR过程中最后一步生成的H₂O分子的吸附能仅仅为-0.05 eV,比O₂分子的吸附能弱得多,意味着整个ORR催化循环在GeNT上可以顺利更替.因此,联合ORR的反应能量数据和中间产物的吸附数据,可以认为（5,5）型锗纳米管具有类Pt的催化性能.溶剂效应计算结果表明,一些反应中间产物的吸附结构,如O中间体会在很大程度上受到溶剂效应的影响.对所研究的锗纳米管来说,溶剂效应可以促进其催化的ORR进程.     

Single-Atom Iron Catalysts on Overhang-Eave Carbon Cages for High-Performance Oxygen Reduction Reaction

Single-atom catalysts have drawn great attention, especially in electrocatalysis. However, most of previous works focus on the enhanced catalytic properties via improving metal loading. Engineering morphologies of catalysts to facilitate mass transport through catalyst layers, thus increasing the utilization of each active site, is regarded as an appealing way for enhanced performance. Herein, we design an overhang-eave structure decorated with isolated single-atom iron sites via a silica-mediated MOF-templated approach for oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) catalysis. This catalyst demonstrates superior ORR performance in both alkaline and acidic electrolytes, comparable to the state-of-the-art Pt/C catalyst and superior to most precious-metal-free catalysts reported to date. This activity originates from its edge-rich structure, having more three-phase boundaries with enhanced mass transport of reactants to accessible single-atom iron sites (increasing the utilization of active sites), which verifies the practicability of such a synthetic approach.     

Theoretical Modelling and Facile Synthesis of a Highly Active Boron‐Doped Palladium Catalyst for the Oxygen Reduction Reaction

A highly active alternative to Pt electrocatalysts for the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR), which is the cathode‐electrode reaction of fuel cells, is sought for higher fuel‐cell performance. Our theoretical modelling reveals that B‐doped Pd (Pd‐B) weakens the absorption of ORR intermediates with nearly optimal binding energy by lowering the barrier associated with O₂ dissociation, suggesting Pd‐B should be highly active for ORR. In fact, Pd‐B, facile synthesized by an electroless deposition process, exhibits 2.2 times and 8.8 times higher specific activity and 14 times and 35 times less costly than commercial pure Pd and Pt catalysts, respectively. Another computational result is that the surface core level of Pd is negatively shifted by B doping, as confirmed by XPS, and implies that filling the density of states related to the anti‐bonding of oxygen to Pd surfaces with excess electrons from B doping, weakens the O bonding to Pd and boosts the catalytic activity.     

Insights into Nitrogen-doped Carbon for Oxygen Reduction: The Role of Graphitic and Pyridinic Nitrogen Species

Nitrogen-doped carbons (N/Cs) manifest good catalytic performance for oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) for fuel cell systems. However, to date, controversies remain on the role of active sites in N/Cs. In the present study, ORR test was conducted on three N/Cs in O₂-saturated 0.1 M KOH aqueous solution, where apparent linear correlation between graphitic N contents and ORR activity was observed. Theoretical calculations demonstrated that graphitic N doping is energetically more favorable than that of pyridinic N doping for ORR and the pyridinic N leads to more preferential with 2 e^– ORR pathway. These results reveal that graphitic N plays a key role in N/Cs mediated ORR activity. This work lays a solid foundation on identifying the active sites in heteroatom-doped carbons and can be exploited for rational design and engineering of effective carbon-based ORR catalysts.     

Enhanced Oxygen Reduction Reactions in Fuel Cells on H‐Decorated and B‐Substituted Graphene

In the light of recent experimental research on the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) with carbon materials doped with foreign atoms, we study the performance of graphene with different defects on this catalytic reaction. In addition to the reported N‐graphene, it is found that H‐decorated and B‐substituted graphene can also spontaneously promote this chemical reaction. The local high spin density plays the key role, facilitating the adsorption of oxygen and OOH, which is the start of ORR. The source of the high spin density for all of the doped graphene is attributed to unpaired single π electrons. Meanwhile, the newly formed C? H covalent bond introduces a higher barrier to the p electron flow, leading to more localized and higher spin density for H‐decorated graphene. At the same time, larger structural distortion should be avoided, which could impair the induced spin density, such as for P‐substituted graphene.     

S掺杂Fe-NC单原子催化剂氧还原机理研究

杂原子掺杂的Fe-NC催化剂在氧还原反应中表现出优异的性能.本工作采用密度泛函理论研究了S原子掺杂对Fe-NC单原子催化剂电子结构的调控及促进氧还原反应的作用机理,分析了硫原子掺杂后Fe-NC催化剂的稳定构型, S原子对FeN4活性位点电子结构的调控,以及氧气的吸附和氧还原反应作用机理.研究结果表明,在FeN4活性位点周围掺杂少量S原子,可以提高催化剂的稳定性. S原子掺杂提高氧还原性能的机理为:(1) S原子的掺杂降低了催化剂的带隙,提高催化剂导电性,有利于电催化氧还原反应;(2) S原子的掺杂可以提高催化剂吸附氧气的能力,有利于氧还原反应;(3)体系中引入四个S原子可以降低氧还原反应的过电位,提高FeN4位点催化氧还原反应的活性.这项工作可能为基于碳材料的单原子催化剂上杂原子掺杂的调控提供新的思路.     

Nanosheets with High-Performance Electrochemical Oxygen Reduction Reaction Revived from Green Walnut Peel

The synthesis of metal-free carbon-based electrocatalysts for oxygen reduction reactions (ORR) to replace conventional Pt-based catalysts has become a hot spot in current research. This work proposes an activation-assisted carbonization strategy, to manufacture N-doped ultra-thin carbon nanosheets (GWS180M800) with high catalytic activity, namely, melamine is used as an accelerator/nitrogen source, and walnut green peels biological waste as a carbon source. The melamine acts as a nitrogen donor in the hydrothermal process, effectively enhancing the nitrogen doping rate. The content of pyridine nitrogen groups accounts for up to 48.5% of the total nitrogen content. Electrochemical tests show that the GWS180M800 has excellent ORR electrocatalytic activity and stability, and makes a quasi-four-electron ORR pathway clear in the alkaline electrolyte. The initial potential and half slope potential are as high as 1.01 and 0.82 V vs. RHE, respectively. The GWS180M800 catalyst has a better ability to avoid methanol cross poisoning than Pt/C has. Compared with 20 wt% Pt/C, GWS180M800 has improved methanol tolerance and stability. It is a metal-free biochar ORR catalyst with great development potential and application prospects. This result provides a new space for the preparation of valuable porous nano-carbon materials based on carbonaceous solid waste and provides new ideas for catalyzing a wide range of electrochemical reactions in the future.     

Cobalt–Nitrogen‐Doped Helical Carbonaceous Nanotubes as a Class of Efficient Electrocatalysts for the Oxygen Reduction Reaction

The oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) is of significant importance in the development of fuel cells. Now, cobalt–nitrogen‐doped chiral carbonaceous nanotubes (l/d ‐CCNTs‐Co) are presented as efficient electrocatalysts for ORR. The chiral template, N‐stearyl‐l/d ‐glutamic acid, induces the self‐assembly of well‐arranged polypyrrole and the formation of ordered graphene carbon with helical structures at the molecular level after the pyrolysis process. Co was subsequently introduced through the post‐synthesis method. The obtained l/d ‐CCNTs‐Co exhibits superior ORR performance, including long‐term stability and better methanol tolerance compared to achiral Co‐doped carbon materials and commercial Pt/C. DFT calculations demonstrate that the charges on the twisted surface of l/d ‐CCNTs are widely separated; as a result the Co atoms are more exposed on the chiral CCNTs. This work gives us a new understanding of the effects of helical structures in electrocatalysis.     

Multifunctional Co3S4/Graphene Composites for Lithium Ion Batteries and Oxygen Reduction Reaction

Cobalt sulfide is a good candidate for both lithium ion batteries (LIBs) and cathodic oxygen reduction reaction (ORR), but low conductivity, poor cyclability, capacity fading, and structural changes hinder its applications. The incorporation of graphene into Co₃S₄ makes it a promising electrode by providing better electrochemical coupling, enhanced conductivity, fast mobility of ions and electrons, and a stabilized structure due to its elastic nature. With the objective of achieving high‐performance composites, herein we report a facile hydrothermal process for growing Co₃S₄ nanotubes (NTs) on graphene (G) sheets. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) verified that graphene dramatically increases the conductivity of the composites to almost twice that of pristine Co₃S₄. Electrochemical measurements indicated that the as‐synthesized Co₃S₄/G composites exhibit good cyclic stability and a high discharge capacity of 720 mA h g^?1 up to 100 cycles with 99.9 % coulombic efficiency. Furthermore, the composites react with dissolved oxygen in the ORR by four‐ and two‐electron mechanisms in both acidic and basic media with an onset potential close to that of commercial Pt/C. The stability of the composites is much higher than that of Pt/C, and exhibit high methanol tolerance. Thus, these properties endorse Co₃S₄/G composites as auspicious candidates for both LIBs and ORR.     

Co1-xS-MnS@CNTs/CNFs的制备及其氧还原电催化性能

氧还原反应是燃料电池中重要的阴极反应,但由于动力学迟缓等问题导致其效率低.碳基材料具有导电性高、稳定性好、比表面积大等优点,常被应用于电催化氧还原反应.然而其在电催化氧还原反应中效率较低,对碳基材料进行Co、Mn掺杂有望提高其氧还原效率.本文采用静电纺丝技术制备出含有Co,Mn双金属的碳纳米纤维,经热解和硫化后碳纳米纤...     

Co-Co9S8/N掺杂科琴黑复合材料的制备及其氧还原反应催化性能

采用普鲁士蓝类似物作为前驱体,结合高温煅烧,制备了高导电碳(氮掺杂科琴黑)支撑、单金属引入的Co-Co_9S_8/N-KB氧还原反应(ORR)催化剂。研究了煅烧温度对ORR催化性能的影响。结果发现,在800℃下进行煅烧,所得催化剂的ORR催化活性最大,其起始电位和半波电位分别为0.93和0.83 V,与商业级Pt/C相当,并且极限电流密度高达5.7 mA·cm~(-2)。该催化剂的稳定性也十分优异,经过10 000 s长时间持续催化后电流密度还能保持初始值的95.6%;在0.5～1.0 V之间进行5 000次循环的加速老化实验之后,其半波电位仅偏移了8.6 mV。此外,在铝-空气全电池应用中,在50 mA·cm~(-2)的放电电流密度下,Co-Co_9S_8/N-KB催化剂的放电电压可达1.53 V,高于商业级Pt/C。     

金属空气电池阴极氧还原催化剂研究进展

随着能源危机加剧和生态环境恶化, 可持续发展能源受到更大的重视. 金属空气电池作为一种绿色能源是具有很大发展潜力的新一代电池. 与传统电池相比, 此类电池有着更高的理论能量密度, 尤其是锂空电池, 能量密度可达3505 Wh/kg, 然而阴极缓慢的氧还原反应成为制约其发展的关键因素之一. 在简要介绍氧还原反应机理基础上, 着重介绍了近年来氧还原催化剂如贵金属及其合金、过渡金属氧化物/硫化物、功能化碳材料和金属氮化物的研究进展, 并根据目前所存在问题指出未来研究方向, 包括深入研究氧还原反应机理, 明确催化剂活性位; 研究催化剂结构等对催化活性的影响, 优化制备条件, 以提高催化活性和稳定性; 根据氧还原机理设计开发新型氧还原催化剂.