Interfacial Engineering of Ni/V2O3 Heterostructure Catalyst for Boosting Hydrogen Oxidation Reaction in Alkaline Electrolytes

Alkaline fuel cells can permit the adoption of platinum group metal-free (PGM-free) catalysts and cheap bipolar plates, thus further lowering the cost. With the exploration of PGM-free hydrogen oxidation reaction (HOR) catalysts, nickel-based compounds have been considered as the most promising HOR catalysts in alkali. Here we report an interfacial engineering through the formation of nickel-vanadium oxide (Ni/V₂O₃) heterostructures to activate Ni for efficient HOR catalysis in alkali. The strong electron transfer from Ni to V₂O₃ could modulate the electronic structure of Ni sites. The optimal Ni/V₂O₃ catalyst exhibits a high intrinsic activity of 0.038 mA cm⁻² and outstanding stability. Experimental and theoretical studies reveal that Ni/V₂O₃ interface as the active sites can enable to optimize the hydrogen and hydroxyl bindings, as well as protect metallic Ni from extensive oxidation, thus achieving the notable activity and durability.     

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.     

Understanding Alkaline Hydrogen Oxidation Reaction on PdNiRuIrRh High-Entropy-Alloy by Machine Learning Potential

High-entropy alloy (HEA) catalysts have been widely studied in electrocatalysis. However, identifying atomic structure of HEA with complex atomic arrangement is challenging, which seriously hinders the fundamental understanding of catalytic mechanism. Here, we report a HEA-PdNiRuIrRh catalyst with remarkable mass activity of 3.25 mA μg⁻¹ for alkaline hydrogen oxidation reaction (HOR), which is 8-fold enhancement compared to that of commercial Pt/C. Through machine learning potential-based Monte Carlo simulation, we reveal that the dominant Pd−Pd−Ni/Pd−Pd−Pd bonding environments and Ni/Ru oxophilic sites on HEA surface are beneficial to the optimized adsorption/desorption of *H and enhanced *OH adsorption, contributing to the excellent HOR activity and stability. This work provides significant insights into atomic structure and catalytic mechanism for HEA and offers novel prospects for developing advanced HOR electrocatalysts.     

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.     

Pb-Modified Ultrathin RuCu Nanoflowers for Active,Stable, and CO-resistant Alkaline Electrocatalytic Hydrogen Oxidation

CO poisoning of Pt group metal (PGM) catalysts is a chronic problem for hydrogen oxidation reaction (HOR), the anodic reaction of hydroxide exchange membrane fuel cell (HEMFC) for converting H₂ to electric energy in sustainable manner. We demonstrate here an ultrathin Ru-based nanoflower modified with Pb (PbRuCu NF) as an active, stable, and CO-resistant catalyst for alkaline HOR. Mechanism studies show that the presence of Pb can weaken the adsorption of *H, strengthen *OH adsorption to facilitate CO oxidation, as a result of significantly enhanced HOR activity and improved CO tolerance. Furthermore, in situ electrochemical attenuated total reflection surface-enhanced infrared absorption spectroscopy (ATR-SEIRAS) suggests that Pb acts as oxygen-rich site to regulate the behavior of the linear CO adsorption. The optimized Pb_1.04-Ru₉₂Cu₈/C displays a mass activity and specific activity of 1.10 A mg_Ru⁻¹ and 5.55 mA cm⁻², which are ≈10 and ≈31 times higher than those of commercial Pt/C. This work provides a facile strategy for the design of Ru-based catalyst with high activity and strong CO-resistance for alkaline HOR, which may promote the fundamental researches on the rational design of functional catalysts.     

The Role of Discrepant Reactive Intermediates on Ru-Ru2P Heterostructure for pH-Universal Hydrogen Oxidation Reaction

Developing highly efficient electrocatalysts for hydrogen oxidation reaction (HOR) under alkaline media is essential for the commercialization of alkaline exchange membrane fuel cell (AEMFC). However, the kinetics of HOR in alkaline media is complicated, resulting in orders of magnitude slower than that in acid, even for the state-of-the-art Pt/C. Here, we find that Ru-Ru₂P/C heterostructure shows HOR performance with a non-monotonous variation in a whole pH region. Unexpectedly, an inflection point located at pH≈7 is observed, showing an anomalous behavior that HOR activity under alkaline media surpasses acidic media. Combining experimental results and theoretical calculations, we propose the roles of discrepant reactive intermediates for pH-universal HOR, while H* and H₂O* adsorption strengths are responsible for acidic HOR, and OH* adsorption strength is essential for alkaline HOR. This work not only sheds light on fundamentally understanding the mechanism of HOR but also provides new designing principles for pH-targeted electrocatalysts.     

Microwave Synthesis of Pt Clusters on Black TiO2 with Abundant Oxygen Vacancies for Efficient Acidic Electrocatalytic Hydrogen Evolution

Oxygen vacancies-enriched black TiO₂ is one promising support for enhancing hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). Herein, oxygen vacancies enriched black TiO₂ supported sub-nanometer Pt clusters (Pt/TiO₂-O_V) with metal support interactions is designed through solvent-free microwave and following low-temperature electroless approach for the first time. High-temperature and strong reductants are not required and then can avoid the aggregation of decorated Pt species. Experimental and theoretical calculation verify that the created oxygen vacancies and Pt clusters exhibit synergistic effects for optimizing the reaction kinetics. Based on it, Pt/TiO₂-O_V presents remarkable electrocatalytic performance with 18 mV to achieve 10 mA cm⁻² coupled with small Tafel slope of 12 mV dec⁻¹. This work provides quick synthetic strategy for preparing black titanium dioxide based nanomaterials.     

Pd/Co3O4纳米颗粒负载于Al2O3纳米片高效催化甲烷燃烧

We report an efficient catalyst composed of ternary components prepared by inlaying Pd/Co₃O₄ nanoparticles in alkaline Al₂O₃ nanosheets for catalytic oxidation of methane. Pd/Co₃O₄ inlaid in alkaline Al₂O₃ exhibited a higher ability to break the C-H bond of methane than Pd/Co₃O₄ supported on SiO₂, ZrO₂, CeO₂, and acidic or neutral Al₂O₃. Our results show more oxygen vacancies and higher amounts of surface adsorbed oxygen on the surface of Pd/Co₃O₄/alkaline Al₂O₃ than on other catalysts, which is responsible for methane activation and conversion. Further, the Pd/Co₃O₄/alkaline Al₂O₃ catalyst can almost restore to its initial value in the absence of water when 5% (volume fraction) vapor water was cut off, although a decrease in activity occurred when water vapor was introduced to the reaction system. Even under a condition similar to the exhaust of a lean-burn natural gas engine, the catalytic performance of the Pd/Co₃O₄/alkaline Al₂O₃ catalyst is excellent, that is, methane could be completely converted when the sample temperature in the reaction atmosphere was ramped to 400℃.     

P改性对HZSM-5酸性及P-HZSM-5/CuO-ZnO-Al2O3混合催化剂二甲醚水蒸气重整制氢的影响

近年来,氢能作为清洁可再生新型能源越来越受到人们关注.然而,氢气储存和运输困难,制约了其广泛利用.因此,寻找一种高效的原位在线制氢技术成为解决这一难题的重要方案之一.二甲醚作为氢的载体,具有高H/C比、高能量密度、无毒和无致癌性等优点,而且二甲醚的物理性质与液化石油气(LPG)相类似,燃烧时不会产生污染性气体,且工业上已实现大规模生产.通过重整技术,可以使二甲醚有效地转化为H2.目前的重整技术主要包括部分氧化重整、自热重整、干重整以及水蒸气重整(SR).其中二甲醚水蒸气重整(DME SR)技术具有很高的氢气产率,被认为是一种非常有前途的在线制氢技术.
　　二甲醚水蒸气重整反应分两步进行,第一步是固体酸催化剂催化的二甲醚水解反应,第二步是金属催化剂催化的甲醇水蒸气重整反应.其中二甲醚水解反应是整个反应的控速步骤.g-Al2O3作为一种最常用的固体酸催化剂,因其在二甲醚水蒸气重整反应中的良好活性和稳定性,以及很少的副反应等优点,得到了国内外研究者的普遍青睐.但是,g-Al2O3催化二甲醚水解反应的温度较高(300–400 oC),极易导致用于重整的铜基催化剂烧结和失活.与g-Al2O3相比, H型分子筛催化剂(如HZSM-5)酸性较强,酸性位较多,催化二甲醚水解反应的温度要低得多(<300 oC).然而HZSM-5含有的强酸位在二甲醚水蒸气重整过程中极易导致催化剂因积碳而失活.因此,有必要对HZSM-5分子筛进行改性,去除不必要的强酸位,以降低积碳,提高催化剂的活性和稳定性.
　　本文利用HZSM-5良好的离子交换能力,在不改变分子筛骨架结构的前提下,通过一种简单的浸渍法制备了一系列不同P含量的P改性HZSM-5催化剂,并分别将其与传统的CuO-ZnO-Al2O3催化剂机械混合用于二甲醚水蒸气重整制氢.详细研究了P改性对HZSM-5分子筛酸性以及P-HZSM-5/CuO-ZnO-Al2O3混合催化剂二甲醚水蒸气重整制氢活性的影响.与未改性的HZSM-5相比, P改性的HZSM-5催化剂在重整反应中表现出更高的CO2选择性和更好的催化稳定性.通过N2吸附-脱附、X射线衍射(XRD)、程序升温氧化(TPO)、氨程序升温脱附(NH3-TPD)、吡啶红外光谱(IR)和31P魔角旋转核磁共振光谱(MAS NMR)等技术对催化剂进行了表征. NH3-TPD结果表明, P改性可以显著影响HZSM-5的酸量和酸强度;随着P含量的增加,催化剂的强酸位密度明显降低,而弱酸量变化不大;当P含量达到5%时,催化剂的强酸量几乎消失;进一步增加P含量,催化剂的弱酸量也迅速减少. TPO等分析结果表明,积碳是导致催化剂失活的主要原因.5%P改性的HZSM-5催化剂由于其强酸位的消失,在催化反应中表现出更好的稳定性(与未改性的HZSM-5相比). IR结果显示,随着P含量的增加,催化剂的L酸量迅速减少,而B酸量变化相对缓慢.结合31P MAS NMR, NH3-TPD及IR表征结果,提出了P改性对HZSM-5酸性修饰的可能机理.