Tuning the Electronic Structures of Multimetal Oxide Nanoplates to Realize Favorable Adsorption Energies of Oxygenated Intermediates.

Highly active oxygen evolution reaction (OER) electrocatalysts are important to effectively transform renewable electricity to fuel and chemicals. In this work, we construct a series of multimetal oxide nanoplate OER electrocatalysts through successive cation exchange followed by electrochemical oxidation, whose electronic structure and diversified metal active sites can be engineered the mutual synergy among multiple metal species. Among the examined multimetal oxide nanoplates, CoCeNiFeZnCuO nanoplates exhibit the optimal adsorption energy of OER intermediates.

Architecting a Stable High-Energy Aqueous Al-Ion Battery.

Aqueous Al-ion batteries (AAIBs) are the subject of great interest due to the inherent safety and high theoretical capacity of aluminum. The high abundancy and easy accessibility of aluminum raw materials further make AAIBs appealing for grid-scale energy storage. However, the passivating oxide film formation and hydrogen side reactions at the aluminum anode as well as limited availability of the cathode lead to low discharge voltage and poor cycling stability.

Layered Oxide Cathode for Potassium-Ion Battery: Recent Progress and Prospective.

Rechargeable potassium-ion batteries (KIBs) have demonstrated great potential as alternative technologies to the currently used lithium-ion batteries on account of the competitive price and low redox potential of potassium which is advantageous to applications in the smart grid. As the critical component determining the energy density, appropriate cathode materials are of vital need for the realization of KIBs. Layered oxide cathodes are promising candidates for KIBs due to high reversible capacity, appropriate operating potential, and most importantly, facile and easily scalable synthesis.

Electronic Modulation of Nickel Disulfide toward Efficient Water Electrolysis.

Developing highly efficient earth-abundant nickel-based compounds is an important step to realize hydrogen generation from water. Herein, the electronic modulation of the semiconducting NiS by cation doping for advanced water electrolysis is reported. Both theoretical calculations and temperature-dependent resistivity measurements indicate the semiconductor-to-conductor transition of NiS after Cu incorporation.

Phosphorene-Based Electrocatalysts.

Phosphorene, generally defined as two-dimensional (2D) black phosphorus (BP) with monolayered or few-layered structure, has emerged as a promising member of the family of 2D materials. Since its discovery in 2014, extensive research has been focused on broadening its applications, covering the biological, photoelectric, and electrochemical fields, owing to the unique physicochemical and structural properties. As a single-elemental material, phosphorene has demonstrated its applicability for the preparation of efficient electrocatalysts for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER), oxygen evolution reaction (OER), nitrogen reduction reaction (NRR), and other electrocatalytic applications.

Ultrathin Amorphous Nickel Doped Cobalt Phosphates with Highly Ordered Mesoporous Structures as Efficient Electrocatalyst for Oxygen Evolution Reaction.

Herein, the facile preparation of ultrathin (≈3.8 nm in thickness) 2D cobalt phosphate (CoPi) nanoflakes through an oil-phase method is reported. The obtained nanoflakes are composed of highly ordered mesoporous (≈3.

Cu- and Fe-Codoped Ni Porous Networks as an Active Electrocatalyst for Hydrogen Evolution in Alkaline Medium.

Highly active catalysts from the earth-abundant metals are essential to materialize the low-cost production of hydrogen through water splitting. Herein, nickel porous networks codoped with Cu and Fe prepared by thermal reduction of presynthesized Cu, Fe-codoped Ni(OH) nanowires are reported. The sample consists of nanoparticles of ∼80 nm, which form highly porous network clusters of ∼1 μm with a pore size of 10-100 nm.

Synergy of Nb Doping and Surface Alloy Enhanced on Water-Alkali Electrocatalytic Hydrogen Generation Performance in Ti-Based MXene.

Presented are the theoretical calculation and experimental studies of a TiCT MXene-based nanohybrid with simultaneous Nb doping and surface transition metal alloy modification. Guided by the density functional theory calculation, the Nb doping can move up the Fermi energy level to the conduction band, thus enhancing the electronic conductivity. Meanwhile, the surface modification by Ni/Co alloy can moderate the surface M-H affinity, which will further enhance the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) activity.

Facile Synthesis of Amorphous Ternary Metal Borides-Reduced Graphene Oxide Hybrid with Superior Oxygen Evolution Activity.

Metal borides represent an emerging family of advanced electrocatalyst for oxygen evolution reaction (OER). Herein, we present a fast and simple method of synthesizing iron-doped amorphous nickel boride on reduced graphene oxide (rGO) sheets. The hybrid exhibits outstanding OER performance and stability in prolonged OER operation.

Performance-improved Li-O batteries by tailoring the phases of MoC porous nanorods as an efficient cathode.

Novel nitrogen-doped porous molybdenum carbide (α-MoC1-x and β-Mo2C) architectures were prepared using Mo-based metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) as the precursor. The synthesized molybdenum carbides consist of numerous nanocrystals organized into micro-sized rods with interpenetrating mesoporous-channels and macroporous-tunnels along the axial direction. When employed as the cathode catalyst for Li-O2 batteries, this dual pore configuration offers abundant active sites for the electrochemical reaction and many nucleation sites for the discharge product of Li2O2; hence, decent performances were obtained.

Constructing Multifunctional Heterostructure of Fe O @Ni Se Nanotubes.

Heterostructures have attracted increasing attention due to their amazing synergetic effects, which may improve the electrochemical properties, such as good electrical/ionic conductivity, electrochemical activity, and mechanical stability. Herein, novel hierarchical Fe O @Ni Se nanotubes are successfully fabricated by a multistep strategy. The nanotubes show length sizes of ≈250-500 nm, diameter sizes of ≈100-150 nm, and wall thicknesses of ≈10 nm.

Few-layer NiPS nanosheets as bifunctional materials for Li-ion storage and oxygen evolution reaction.

The construction of two-dimensional (2D) ultrathin nanosheets is considered as a promising strategy for enhancing electrochemical performance, owing to their large surface area and fast electron transport. In this study, ultrathin few-layer NiPS nanosheets are obtained and systematically investigated by high-yield liquid phase exfoliation from their bulk layered crystals, and are exploited as anodes for lithium ion batteries (LIBs) and electrocatalysts for oxygen evolution reaction (OER). When evaluated as an anode for LIBs, NiPS nanosheets show excellent electrochemical properties in terms of stable cycling performance and rate capabilities.

Ultrathin Porous NiFeV Ternary Layer Hydroxide Nanosheets as a Highly Efficient Bifunctional Electrocatalyst for Overall Water Splitting.

Herein, the hydrothermal synthesis of porous ultrathin ternary NiFeV layer double hydroxides (LDHs) nanosheets grown on Nickel foam (NF) substrate as a highly efficient electrode toward overall water splitting in alkaline media is reported. The lateral size of the nanosheets is about a few hundreds of nanometers with the thickness of ≈10 nm. Among all molar ratios investigated, the Ni Fe V -LDHs/NF electrode depicts the optimized performance.

Scalable synthesis of SnS/S-doped graphene composites for superior Li/Na-ion batteries.

Tin disulfide (SnS) has emerged as a promising anode material for lithium/sodium ion batteries (LIBs/SIBs) due to its unique layered structure, outstanding electrochemical properties and low cost. However, its poor cycling life and time-consuming synthesis as well as low-yield production hinder the practical utilization of nanostructured SnS. In this work, we demonstrate a simple and reliable dissolution-regeneration strategy to construct a flexible SnS/sulfur-doped reduced graphene oxide (S-rGO) composite as anodes for LIBs and SIBs, highlighting its mass-production feature.