Atomically Dispersed Dual-Metal Site Catalysts for Enhanced CO Reduction: Mechanistic Insight into Active Site Structures.

Carbon-supported nitrogen-coordinated single-metal site catalysts (i.e., M-N-C, M: Fe, Co, or Ni) are active for the electrochemical CO reduction reaction (CO RR) to CO.

A facile and simple microwave-assisted synthesis method for mesoporous ultrathin iron sulfide nanosheets as an efficient bifunctional electrocatalyst for overall water splitting.

The engineering of inexpensive, high-efficiency and stable electrodes related to both the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) and hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) is highly desired for full water splitting devices to promote future advances in this energy technology. Therefore, a large surface area, rich in exposed surface atoms, and mesoporosity are very effective parameters in electrochemical reactions. Herein, we have, for the first time, synthesized free-standing mesoporous FeS nanosheets with a large surface area of 129.

Thermocatalytic Hydrogen Production Through Decomposition of Methane-A Review.

Consumption of fossil fuels, especially in transport and energy-dependent sectors, has led to large greenhouse gas production. Hydrogen is an exciting energy source that can serve our energy purposes and decrease toxic waste production. Decomposition of methane yields hydrogen devoid of CO components, thereby aiding as an eco-friendly approach towards large-scale hydrogen production.

Pristine Hollow Metal-Organic Frameworks: Design, Synthesis and Application.

Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs), featuring porous crystalline structures with coordinated metal nodes and organic linkers, have recently found increasing interest in diverse applications. By virtue of their versatile and highly tunable compositions and structures, constructing hollow architectures will further endow MOFs with enhanced properties and designability, exceeding the molecular scale. MOFs could be considered as promising building units to fabricate complex hollow nanocomposites with faster mass transport, multiple active components, more exposed active sites, and better compatibility than bulk MOFs.

Carbon Fibers Embedded With Iron Selenide (Fe Se ) as Anode for High-Performance Sodium and Potassium Ion Batteries.

The development of sodium and potassium ion batteries (SIBs/KIBs) has seen tremendous growth in recent years due to their promising properties as a potential replacement for lithium-ion batteries (LIBs). Here, we report ultrafine iron selenide (FeSe) nanoparticles embedded into one-dimensional (1D) carbon fibers (FeSe@CFs) as a potential candidate for SIBs/KIBs. The Fe-based metal-organic framework particles (MOFP) are used as a Fe source to obtain highly dispersed FeSe nanoparticles in the product.

A Dual Protection System for Heterostructured 3D CNT/CoSe/C as High Areal Capacity Anode for Sodium Storage.

3D electrode design is normally opted for multiple advantages, however, instability/detachment of active material causes the pulverization and degradation of the structure, and ultimately poor cyclic stability. Here, a dually protected, highly compressible, and freestanding anode is presented for sodium-ion batteries, where 3D carbon nanotube (CNT) sponge is decorated with homogeneously dispersed CoSe nanoparticles (NPs) which are protected under carbon overcoat (CNT/CoSe/C). The 3D CNT sponge delivers enough space for high mass loading while providing high mechanical strength and faster conduction pathway among the NPs.

A Freestanding Single-Wall Carbon Nanotube Film Decorated with N-Doped Carbon-Encapsulated Ni Nanoparticles as a Bifunctional Electrocatalyst for Overall Water Splitting.

Noble-metal free, cost-effective, and highly stable catalysts with efficient activity for both the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) have attracted tremendous research interest in recent years. Here, a flexible, self-standing hybrid film comprising a N-doped single-wall carbon nanotube (SWCNT) network on which are anchored Ni nanoparticles encapsulated by a monolayer of N-doped carbon (NCNi) is reported. The films are prepared by floating catalyst chemical vapor deposition followed by NH treatment.

Ultrafast Sodium/Potassium-Ion Intercalation into Hierarchically Porous Thin Carbon Shells.

The large-scale application of sodium/potassium-ion batteries is severely limited by the low and slow charge storage dynamics of electrode materials. The crystalline carbons exhibit poor insertion capability of large Na /K ions, which limits the storage capability of Na/K batteries. Herein, porous S and N co-doped thin carbon (S/N@C) with shell-like (shell size ≈20-30 nm, shell wall ≈8-10 nm) morphology for enhanced Na /K storage is presented.

Fe N/S/N Codecorated Hierarchical Porous Carbon Nanosheets for Trifunctional Electrocatalysis.

Construction of multifunctional highly active earth-abundant electrocatalysts on a large scale is a great challenge due to poor control over nanostructural features and limited active sites. Here, a simple methodology to tailor metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) to extract highly active multifunctional electrocatalysts on a large scale for oxygen reduction (ORR), oxygen evolution (OER), and hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) is presented. The N, S codoped Fe N decorated highly porous and defect-rich carbon nanosheets are grown using MOF xerogels, melamine, and polyvinylpyrollidone.

A Universal Strategy for Hollow Metal Oxide Nanoparticles Encapsulated into B/N Co-Doped Graphitic Nanotubes as High-Performance Lithium-Ion Battery Anodes.

Yolk-shell nanostructures have received great attention for boosting the performance of lithium-ion batteries because of their obvious advantages in solving the problems associated with large volume change, low conductivity, and short diffusion path for Li ion transport. A universal strategy for making hollow transition metal oxide (TMO) nanoparticles (NPs) encapsulated into B, N co-doped graphitic nanotubes (TMO@BNG (TMO = CoO, Ni O , Mn O ) through combining pyrolysis with an oxidation method is reported herein. The as-made TMO@BNG exhibits the TMO-dependent lithium-ion storage ability, in which CoO@BNG nanotubes exhibit highest lithium-ion storage capacity of 1554 mA h g at the current density of 96 mA g , good rate ability (410 mA h g at 1.

Hierarchical Cobalt Hydroxide and B/N Co-Doped Graphene Nanohybrids Derived from Metal-Organic Frameworks for High Energy Density Asymmetric Supercapacitors.

To cater for the demands of electrochemical energy storage system, the development of cost effective, durable and highly efficient electrode materials is desired. Here, a novel electrode material based on redox active β-Co(OH) and B, N co-doped graphene nanohybrid is presented for electrochemical supercapacitor by employing a facile metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) route through pyrolysis and hydrothermal treatment. The Co(OH) could be firmly stabilized by dual protection of N-doped carbon polyhedron (CP) and B/N co-doped graphene (BCN) nanosheets.

Nanostructured Electrode Materials Derived from Metal-Organic Framework Xerogels for High-Energy-Density Asymmetric Supercapacitor.

This work successfully demonstrates metal-organic framework (MOF) derived strategy to prepare nanoporous carbon (NPC) with or without Fe3O4/Fe nanoparticles by the optimization of calcination temperature as highly active electrode materials for asymmetric supercapacitors (ASC). The nanostructured Fe3O4/Fe/C hybrid shows high specific capacitance of 600 F/g at a current density of 1 A/g and excellent capacitance retention up to 500 F/g at 8 A/g. Furthermore, hierarchically NPC with high surface area also obtained from MOF gels displays excellent electrochemical performance of 272 F/g at 2 mV/s.