A Novel Molten Salt Mediated Synthesis of Mesoporous Metal Oxides with High Crystallization.

The controlled synthesis of mesoporous metal oxides remains a great challenge because the uncontrolled assembly process and high-temperature crystallization can easily destroy the mesostructure. Herein, we develop a facile, versatile, low-cost, and controllable molten salt assisted assembly strategy to synthesize mesoporous metal oxides (e.g.

Simultaneously Geometrical and Electronic Modulation of L-PtZn by Trace Ge Boosts High-performance Oxygen Reduction Reaction.

Developing a highly active, durable, and low-platinum-based electrocatalyst for the cathodic oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) is for breaking the bottleneck of large-scale applications of proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs). Herein, ultrafine PtZn intermetallic nanoparticles with low Pt-loading and trace germanium (Ge) involvement confined in the nitrogen-doped porous carbon (Ge-L-PtZn@N-C) are reported. The Ge-L-PtZn@N-C exhibit superior ORR activity with a mass activity of 3.

SnO Quantum Dots Enabled Site-Directed Sodium Deposition for Stable Sodium Metal Batteries.

Dendrite growth has been severely impeding the implementation of sodium (Na) metal batteries, which is regarded as one of the most promising candidates for next-generation high-energy batteries. Herein, SnO quantum dots (QDs) are homogeneously dispersed and fully covered on a 3D carbon cloth scaffold (SnO-CC) with high affinity to molten Na, given that SnO spontaneously initiates alloying reactions with Na and provides low nucleation barrier for Na deposition. Molten Na can be rapidly infused into the SnO-CC scaffold as a free-standing anode material.

Nanoporous V-Doped NiP Microsphere: A Highly Efficient Electrocatalyst for Hydrogen Evolution Reaction at All pH.

Hydrogen economy is one of the most promising candidates to replace the current energy system on depleting fossil fuels. As a clean and sustainable way to produce hydrogen, electrocatalytic water splitting attracts ever-increasing interest from the research community. Although the wide application of platinum group metal (PGM) catalysts is limited because of the scarcity and high cost toward hydrogen evolution reaction (HER), the non-PGM electrocatalysts usually suffer from unsatisfactory activity and poor durability.

Promoting Formation of Oxygen Vacancies in Two-Dimensional Cobalt-Doped Ceria Nanosheets for Efficient Hydrogen Evolution.

As an alternative for depleting fossil fuel energy, hydrogen economy desires low-cost and efficient hydrogen production from water splitting. In order to explore a cheap, abundant, active, and durable catalyst for the electrocatalytic hydrogen evolution reaction (HER), two-dimensional (2D) ceria nanosheets are produced through a thermal decomposition exfoliation method from CeCOOH with a layer-stacked structure. The additional cobalt dopant promotes formation of oxygen vacancies in ceria nanosheets and, in turn, optimizes hydrogen binding/water dissociation and increases the active sites.