Tailoring Octahedron-Tetrahedron Synergism in Spinel Catalysts for Acidic Water Electrolysis.

The instability issues of oxide-based electrocatalysts during the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) under acidic conditions, caused by the oxidation and dissolution of the catalysts along with the current-capacitance effect, constrain their application in proton exchange membrane water electrolysis (PEMWE). To address these challenges, we tailored the spinel structure of CoO and exploited the synergism between the tetrahedron and octahedron sites by partially substituting Co with Ni and Ru (denoted as NiRuCoO), respectively. Such a catalyst design creates a Ru-O-Ni electronic coupling effect, facilitating a direct dioxygen radical-coupled OER pathway.

Interface Storage Mechanism in Aqueous Ammonium-Ion Supercapacitors with Keggin-Type Polyoxometalates-Modified Ag-BTC.

Ammonium-ion supercapacitors (AISCs) offer considerable potential for future development owing to their low cost, high safety, environmental sustainability, and efficient electrochemical energy storage capabilities. The rapid and efficient charge-transfer process at the AISC can endow them with high capacitive and cycling stabilities. However, the prolonged intercalation/deintercalation of NH in layered and framework materials often results in the cleavage of the active sites and the deconstruction of the framework, which makes it difficult to achieve long-term stable energy storage while maintaining high capacitance in the electrode materials.

Recent advances in zinc-air batteries: self-standing inorganic nanoporous metal films as air cathodes.

Zinc-air batteries (ZABs) have promising prospects as next-generation electrochemical energy systems due to their high safety, high power density, environmental friendliness, and low cost. However, the air cathodes used in ZABs still face many challenges, such as the low catalytic activity and poor stability of carbon-based materials at high current density/voltage. To achieve high activity and stability of rechargeable ZABs, chemically and electrochemically stable air cathodes with bifunctional oxygen reduction reaction (ORR)/oxygen evolution reaction (OER) activity, fast reaction rate with low platinum group metal (PGM) loading or PGM-free materials are required, which are difficult to achieve with common electrocatalysts.

Interface synergism and engineering of Pd/Co@N-C for direct ethanol fuel cells.

Direct ethanol fuel cells have been widely investigated as nontoxic and low-corrosive energy conversion devices with high energy and power densities. It is still challenging to develop high-activity and durable catalysts for a complete ethanol oxidation reaction on the anode and accelerated oxygen reduction reaction on the cathode. The materials' physics and chemistry at the catalytic interface play a vital role in determining the overall performance of the catalysts.

CO Bubble-Assisted Pt Exposure in PtFeNi Porous Film for High-Performance Zinc-Air Battery.

Fine-tuning the exposed active sites of platinum group metal (PGM)-based materials is an efficient way to improve their electrocatalytic performance toward large-scale applications in renewable energy devices such as Zn-air batteries (ZABs). However, traditional synthetic methods trade off durability for the high activity of PGM-based catalysts. Herein, a novel dynamic CO-bubble template (DCBT) approach was established to electrochemically fine-tuning the exposed Pt active sites in PtFeNi (PFN) porous films (PFs).

Dual-Doping and Synergism toward High-Performance Seawater Electrolysis.

Hydrogen (H ) production from direct seawater electrolysis is an economically appealing yet fundamentally and technically challenging approach to harvest clean energy. The current seawater electrolysis technology is significantly hindered by the poor stability and low selectivity of the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) due to the competition with chlorine evolution reaction in practical application. Herein, iron and phosphor dual-doped nickel selenide nanoporous films (Fe,P-NiSe NFs) are rationally designed as bifunctional catalysts for high-efficiency direct seawater electrolysis.

Stabilization of Sn Anode through Structural Reconstruction of a Cu-Sn Intermetallic Coating Layer.

The metallic tin (Sn) anode is a promising candidate for next-generation lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) due to its high theoretical capacity and electrical conductivity. However, Sn suffers from severe mechanical degradation caused by large volume changes during lithiation/delithiation, which leads to a rapid capacity decay for LIBs application. Herein, a Cu-Sn (e.

Boosted Performance of Ir Species by Employing TiN as the Support toward Oxygen Evolution Reaction.

Reducing the noble-metal loading without sacrificing the catalytic performance of the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) catalysts is paramount yet highly challenging. Herein, IrO@Ir/TiN electrocatalysts employing TiN as the support have been developed and shown high efficiency toward OER. TiN is found not only to disperse the IrO@Ir nanoparticles effectively but also to exert the electronic modulation of Ir by downshifting its d-band center of 0.

Sulfur-Doped Nickel Phosphide Nanoplates Arrays: A Monolithic Electrocatalyst for Efficient Hydrogen Evolution Reactions.

Searching for cost-efficient electrocatalysts with high catalytic activity and stability for hydrogen generation by means of water electrolysis would make a great improvement on energy technologies field. Herein, we report high-performance hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) electrocatalysts based on sulfur-doped NiP nanoplate arrays grown on carbon paper (S-NiP NPA/CP). This ternary, robust, monolithic S-NiP NPA/CP exhibits remarkable performance for the HER compared to nickel phosphide and nickel sulfide catalysts.

Small Addition of Boron in Palladium Catalyst, Big Improvement in Fuel Cell's Performance: What May Interfacial Spectroelectrochemistry Tell?

Direct formic acid fuel cell (DFAFC) with Pd-based catalyst anode is a promising energy converter to power portable devices. However, its commercialization is entangled with insufficient activity and poor stability of existing anode catalysts. Here we initially report that a DFAFC using facilely synthesized Pd-B/C with ca.

Ni2P Makes Application of the PtRu Catalyst Much Stronger in Direct Methanol Fuel Cells.

PtRu is regarded as the best catalyst for direct methanol fuel cells, but the performance decay resulting from the loss of Ru seriously hinders commercial applications. Herein, we demonstrated that the presence of Ni2 P largely reduces Ru loss, which thus makes the application of PtRu much stronger in direct methanol fuel cells. Outstanding catalytic activity and stability were observed by cyclic voltammetry.

Activity of platinum/carbon and palladium/carbon catalysts promoted by Ni2 P in direct ethanol fuel cells.

Ethanol is an alternative fuel for direct alcohol fuel cells, in which the electrode materials are commonly based on Pt or Pd. Owing to the excellent promotion effect of Ni2 P that was found in methanol oxidation, we extended the catalyst system of Pt or Pd modified by Ni2 P in direct ethanol fuel cells. The Ni2 P-promoted catalysts were compared to commercial catalysts as well as to reference catalysts promoted with only Ni or only P.

An effective Pd-Ni(2)P/C anode catalyst for direct formic acid fuel cells.

The direct formic acid fuel cell is an emerging energy conversion device for which palladium is considered as the state-of-the-art anode catalyst. In this communication, we show that the activity and stability of palladium for formic acid oxidation can be significantly enhanced using nickel phosphide (Ni(2)P) nanoparticles as a cocatalyst. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) reveals a strong electronic interaction between Ni(2)P and Pd.