Periodic Defect Engineering of Iron-Nitrogen-Carbon Catalysts for Nitrate Electroreduction to Ammonia.

Iron-nitrogen-carbon single atom catalyst (SAC) is regarded as one of the promising electrocatalysts for NO reduction reaction (NO RR) to NH due to its high activity and selectivity. However, synergistic effects of topological defects and FeN active moiety in Fe-N-C SAC have rarely been investigated. By performing density functional theory (DFT) calculations, 13 defective graphene FeN with 585, 484, and 5775 topological line defects are constructed, yielding 585-68-FeN with optimal NO RR catalytic activity, high selectivity, as well as robust anti-dissolution stability.

Ultrathin Pd Pt Rh Nanorings with Strong C-C Bond Breaking Ability for the Ethanol Oxidation Reaction.

Ethanol as a fuel for direct ethanol fuel cells (DEFCs) has the advantages of being highly energetic, environmentally friendly, and low-cost, while the slow anodic ethanol oxidation reaction (EOR), intermediate poisoning effect, and incomplete oxidation of ethanol became obstacles to the development of DEFCs. Herein, a 2D ternary cyclic Pd Pt Rh nanorings (NRs) catalyst with efficient EOR performance is prepared via a facile one-pot solvothermal approach, and systematic studies are carried out to reveal the mechanisms of the enhanced performance and C-C bond selectivity. In particular, the optimized catalyst exhibits impressive mass activity, stability, toxicity resistance, and C-C bond cleavage ability.