Roughing Nitrogen-Doped Carbon Nanosheets for Loading of Monatomic Fe and Electroreduction of CO to CO.

The catalyst is the pivotal component in CO electroreduction systems for converting CO into valuable products. Carbon-based single-atom materials (CSAMs) have emerged as promising catalyst candidates due to their low cost and high atomic utilization efficiency. The rational design of the morphology and microstructure of such materials is desirable but poses a challenge.

Anionic Coordination Control in Building Cu-Based Electrocatalytic Materials for CO Reduction Reaction.

Renewable energy-driven conversion of CO to value-added fuels and chemicals via electrochemical CO reduction reaction (CORR) technology is regarded as a promising strategy with substantial environmental and economic benefits to achieve carbon neutrality. Because of its sluggish kinetics and complex reaction paths, developing robust catalytic materials with exceptional selectivity to the targeted products is one of the core issues, especially for extensively concerned Cu-based materials. Manipulating Cu species by anionic coordination is identified as an effective way to improve electrocatalytic performance, in terms of modulating active sites and regulating structural reconstruction.

Symmetry Breaking Induced Amorphization of Cobalt-Based Catalyst for Boosted CO Photoreduction.

Photocatalytic reduction of CO to energy carriers is intriguing in the industry but kinetically hard to fulfil due to the lack of rationally designed catalysts. A promising way to improve the efficiency and selectivity of such reduction is to break the structural symmetry of catalysts by manipulating coordination. Here, inspired by analogous CoO and CoSe octahedral structural motifs of the Co(OH) and CoSe, a hetero-anionic coordination strategy is proposed to construct a symmetry-breaking photocatalyst prototype of oxygen-deficient Se-doped cobalt hydroxide upon first-principles calculations.

Construction of a flower-like SnS/SnO junction for efficient photocatalytic CO reduction.

Photoreduction of CO to value-added chemicals and fuels is an attractive solution to alleviate environmental problems and energy crisis at the same time. However, engineering efficient photocatalysts with high activity and product selectivity is still challenging. Herein, we achieved three-dimensional (3D) spatial configuration design at micro-scale and heterogeneous interface construction at nano-scale on a SnS/SnO composite, which featured hierarchical flower-like morphology consisted of nanosheets and type-II semiconductor structure.

Manipulation on Two-Dimensional Amorphous Nanomaterials for Enhanced Electrochemical Energy Storage and Conversion.

Low-carbon society is calling for advanced electrochemical energy storage and conversion systems and techniques, in which functional electrode materials are a core factor. As a new member of the material family, two-dimensional amorphous nanomaterials (2D ANMs) are booming gradually and show promising application prospects in electrochemical fields for extended specific surface area, abundant active sites, tunable electron states, and faster ion transport capacity. Specifically, their flexible structures provide significant adjustment room that allows readily and desirable modification.

Activating Metal Oxides Nanocatalysts for Electrocatalytic Water Oxidation by Quenching-Induced Near-Surface Metal Atom Functionality.

Developing a reliable strategy for the modulation of the texture, composition, and electronic structure of electrocatalyst surfaces is crucial for electrocatalytic performance, yet still challenging. Herein, we develop a facile and universal strategy, quenching, to precisely tailor the surface chemistry of metal oxide nanocatalysts by rapidly cooling them in a salt solution. Taking NiMoO nanocatalysts an example, we successfully produce the quenched nanocatalysts offering a greatly reduced oxygen evolution reaction (OER) overpotential by 85 mV and 135 mV at 10 mA cm and 100 mA cm respectively.

Defect-free potassium manganese hexacyanoferrate cathode material for high-performance potassium-ion batteries.

Potassium-ion batteries (KIBs) are promising electrochemical energy storage systems because of their low cost and high energy density. However, practical exploitation of KIBs is hampered by the lack of high-performance cathode materials. Here we report a potassium manganese hexacyanoferrate (KMn[Fe(CN)]) material, with a negligible content of defects and water, for efficient high-voltage K-ion storage.

Achieving delafossite analog by in situ electrochemical self-reconstruction as an oxygen-evolving catalyst.

Development of novel and robust oxygen evolution reaction (OER) catalysts with well-modulated atomic and electronic structure remains a challenge. Compared to the well-known metal hydroxides or (oxyhydr)oxides with lamellar structure, delafossites (ABO) are characterized by alternating layers of A cations and edge-sharing BO octahedra, but are rarely used in OER due to their poor electron conductivity and intrinsic activity. Here, we propose a delafossite analog by mutation of metal oxyhydroxide and delafossite based on first-principles calculations.

Amorphous Mn O Nanocages with High-Efficiency Charge Transfer for Enhancing Electro-Optic Properties of Liquid Crystals.

Improving electro-optic properties is essential for fabricating high-quality liquid crystal displays. Herein, by doping amorphous Mn O octahedral nanocages (a-Mn O ONCs) into a nematic liquid crystal (NLC) matrix E7, outstanding electro-optic properties of the blend are successfully obtained. At a doping concentration of 0.

The Flexibility of an Amorphous Cobalt Hydroxide Nanomaterial Promotes the Electrocatalysis of Oxygen Evolution Reaction.

Structural flexibility can be a desirable trait of an operating catalyst because it adapts itself to a given catalytic process for enhanced activity. Here, amorphous cobalt hydroxide nanocages are demonstrated to be a promising electrocatalyst with an overpotential of 0.28 V at 10 mA cm , far outperforming the crystalline counterparts and being in the top rank of the catalysts of their kind, under the condition of electrocatalytic oxygen evolution reaction.

High-Yield Synthesis of Hollow Octahedral Silver Nanocages with Controllable Pack Density and Their High-Performance Sers Application.

Nanoparticle-assembled octahedral Ag nanocages with sharp edges have been successfully synthesized through a Cu O-based template-assisted strategy. In the reaction system, Ag nanoparticles can be self-assembled on the surface of Cu O octahedrons, which is accomplished by the reduction of Ag by NaBH in the presence of sodium citrate as a capping agent. The hollow octahedral Ag nanocages are obtained after removing the inner Cu O cores with acetic acid.