Stabilizing Lattice Oxygen of Bi2O3 by Interstitial Insertion of Indium for Efficient Formic Acid Electrosynthesis.

Bismuth oxide (Bi2O3) emerges as a potent catalyst for converting CO2 to formic acid (HCOOH), leveraging its abundant lattice oxygen and the high activity of its Bi-O bonds. Yet, its durability is usually impeded by the loss of lattice oxygen causing structure alteration and destabilized active bonds. Herein, we report an innovative approach via the interstitial incorporation of indium (In) into the Bi2O3, significantly enhancing bond stability and preserving lattice oxygen.

Mechanistic Insights and Technical Challenges in Sulfur-Based Batteries: A Comprehensive / Monitoring Toolbox.

Batteries based on sulfur cathodes offer a promising energy storage solution due to their potential for high performance, cost-effectiveness, and sustainability. However, commercial viability is challenged by issues such as polysulfide migration, volume changes, uneven phase nucleation, limited ion transport, and sluggish sulfur redox kinetics. Addressing these challenges requires insights into the structural, morphological, and chemical evolution of phases, the associated volume changes and internal stresses, and ion and polysulfide diffusion within the battery.

Anionic Doping in Layered Transition Metal Chalcogenides for Robust Lithium-Sulfur Batteries.

Lithium-sulfur batteries (LSBs) are among the most promising next-generation energy storage technologies. However, a slow Li-S reaction kinetics at the LSB cathode limit their energy and power densities. To address these challenges, this study introduces an anionic-doped transition metal chalcogenide as an effective catalyst to accelerate the Li-S reaction.

Oxophilic Sn to Promote Glucose Oxidation to Formic Acid in Ni Nanoparticles.

The electrochemical glucose oxidation reaction (GOR) presents an opportunity to produce hydrogen and high-value chemical products. Herein, we investigate the effect of Sn in Ni nanoparticles for the GOR to formic acid (FA). Electrochemical results show that the maximum activity is related to the amount of Ni, as Ni sites are responsible for catalyzing the GOR via the NiOOH/Ni(OH) pair.

La(FeCuMnMgTi)O High-Entropy Oxide Nanoparticles as Highly Efficient Catalysts for Solvent-Free Aerobic Oxidation of Benzyl Alcohol.

In this work, a solid-state method for the synthesis of perovskite La(FeCuMnMgTi)O high-entropy oxide (HEO) nanoparticles is detailed. Additionally, the high performance of these nanoparticles as catalysts in the aerobic and solvent-free oxidation of benzyl alcohol is demonstrated. The structural features of HEO nanoparticles are studied by X-ray diffraction and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy.

Structural Design of Nickel Hydroxide for Efficient Urea Electrooxidation.

Urea stands as a ubiquitous environmental contaminant. However, not only does urea oxidation reaction technology facilitate energy conversion, but it also significantly contributes to treating wastewater rich in urea. Furthermore, urea electrolysis has a significantly lower theoretical potential (0.

Axial heteroatom (P, S and Cl)-decorated Fe single-atom catalyst for the oxygen reduction reaction: a DFT study.

An FeN single-atom catalyst (SAC) embedded in a graphene matrix is considered an oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) catalyst for its good activity and durability, and decoration on the Fe active site can further modulate the performance of the FeN SAC. In this work, the axial heteroatom (L = P, S and Cl)-decorated FeN SAC (FeNL) and pure FeN were comparatively studied using density functional theory (DFT) calculations. It was found that the rate-determining step (RDS) in the ORR on pure FeN is the reduction of OH to HO in the last step with an overpotential of 0.

High-Entropy La(FeCuMnMgTi)O Nanoparticles as Heterogeneous Catalyst for CO Electroreduction Reaction.

In this work, La(FeCuMnMgTi)O HEO nanoparticles with a perovskite-type structure are synthesized and used in the electrocatalytic CO reduction reaction (CORR). The catalyst demonstrates high performance as an electrocatalyst for the CORR, with a Faradaic efficiency (FE) of 92.5% at a current density of 21.

Electronic Spin Alignment within Homologous NiS/NiSe Heterostructures to Promote Sulfur Redox Kinetics in Lithium-Sulfur Batteries.

The catalytic activation of the Li-S reaction is fundamental to maximize the capacity and stability of Li-S batteries (LSBs). Current research on Li-S catalysts mainly focuses on optimizing the energy levels to promote adsorption and catalytic conversion, while frequently overlooking the electronic spin state influence on charge transfer and orbital interactions. Here, hollow NiS/NiSe heterostructures encapsulated in a nitrogen-doped carbon matrix (NiS/NiSe@NC) are synthesized and used as a catalytic additive in sulfur cathodes.

Enhanced photo-Fenton degradation of dyes under visible light with recyclable γ-FeO/CQDs: Catalyst preparation, performance and mechanism insight.

A low band gap and visible light-responsive heterogeneous Photo-Fenton catalyst of γ-FeO/CQDs micron composite was prepared under the one-pot hydrothermal method. The Photo-Fenton degradation of γ-FeO/CQDs towards dye solution of rhodamine B(RhB), methyl blue (MB), and methyl orange (MO) was studied comparatively with α-FeO. The γ-FeO/CQDs exhibited remarkable catalytic performance for various dyes and with a first-order rate (k) of 14 times higher than that of initial α-FeO with a low concentration of HO of 0.

Blocking Metal Nanocluster Growth through Ligand Coordination and Subsequent Polymerization: The Case of Ruthenium Nanoclusters as Robust Hydrogen Evolution Electrocatalysts.

Metal nanoclusters providing maximized atomic surface exposure offer outstanding hydrogen evolution activities but their stability is compromised as they are prone to grow and agglomerate. Herein, a possibility of blocking metal ion diffusion at the core of cluster growth and aggregation to produce highly active Ru nanoclusters supported on an N, S co-doped carbon matrix (Ru/NSC) is demonstrated. To stabilize the nanocluster dispersion, Ru species are initially coordinated through multiple Ru─N bonds with N-rich 4'-(4-aminophenyl)-2,2:6',2''-terpyridine (TPY-NH) ligands that are subsequently polymerized using a Schiff base.

MoS @Polyaniline for Aqueous Ammonium-Ion Supercapacitors.

Ammonium-ion aqueous supercapacitors are raising notable attention owing to their cost, safety, and environmental advantages, but the development of optimized electrode materials for ammonium-ion storage still lacks behind expectations. To overcome current challenges, here, a sulfide-based composite electrode based on MoS and polyaniline (MoS @PANI) is proposed as an ammonium-ion host. The optimized composite possesses specific capacitances above 450 F g at 1 A g , and 86.

Selective Ethylene Glycol Oxidation to Formate on Nickel Selenide with Simultaneous Evolution of Hydrogen.

There is an urgent need for cost-effective strategies to produce hydrogen from renewable net-zero carbon sources using renewable energies. In this context, the electrochemical hydrogen evolution reaction can be boosted by replacing the oxygen evolution reaction with the oxidation of small organic molecules, such as ethylene glycol (EG). EG is a particularly interesting organic liquid with two hydroxyl groups that can be transformed into a variety of C1 and C2 chemicals, depending on the catalyst and reaction conditions.

Sulfate-Decorated Amorphous-Crystalline Cobalt-Iron Oxide Nanosheets to Enhance O-O Coupling in the Oxygen Evolution Reaction.

The electrochemical oxygen evolution reaction (OER) plays a fundamental role in several energy technologies, which performance and cost-effectiveness are in large part related to the used OER electrocatalyst. Herein, we detail the synthesis of cobalt-iron oxide nanosheets containing controlled amounts of well-anchored SO anionic groups (CoFeO-SO). We use a cobalt-based zeolitic imidazolate framework (ZIF-67) as the structural template and a cobalt source and Mohr's salt ((NH)Fe(SO)·6HO) as the source of iron and sulfate.

Platinum-Water Interaction Induced Interfacial Water Orientation That Governs the pH-Dependent Hydrogen Oxidation Reaction.

Understanding the electrode-water interface structure in acid and alkali is crucial to unveiling the underlying mechanism of pH-dependent hydrogen oxidation reaction (HOR) kinetics. In this work, we construct the explicit Pt(111)-HO interface models in both acid and alkali to investigate the relationship between the HOR mechanism and electrode-electrolyte interface structure using ab initio molecular dynamics and density functional theory. We find that the interfacial water orientation in the outer Helmholtz layer (OHP) induced by the Pt-water interaction governs the pH-dependent HOR kinetics on Pt(111).

CoFeNiMnZnB as a High-Entropy Metal Boride to Boost the Oxygen Evolution Reaction.

High-entropy materials offer numerous advantages as catalysts, including a flexible composition to tune the catalytic activity and selectivity and a large variety of adsorption/reaction sites for multistep or multiple reactions. Herein, we report on the synthesis, properties, and electrocatalytic performance of an amorphous high-entropy boride based on abundant transition metals, CoFeNiMnZnB. This metal boride provides excellent performance toward the oxygen evolution reaction (OER), including a low overpotential of 261 mV at 10 mA cm, a reduced Tafel slope of 56.

Cobalt Molybdenum Nitride-Based Nanosheets for Seawater Splitting.

The development of cost-effective bifunctional catalysts for water electrolysis is both a crucial necessity and an exciting scientific challenge. Herein, a simple approach based on a metal-organic framework sacrificial template to preparing cobalt molybdenum nitride supported on nitrogen-doped carbon nanosheets is reported. The porous structure of produced composite enables fast reaction kinetics, enhanced stability, and high corrosion resistance in critical seawater conditions.

DFT Study on the CO Reduction to C Chemicals Catalyzed by Fe and Co Clusters Supported on N-Doped Carbon.

The catalytic conversion of CO to C products through the CO reduction reaction (CORR) offers the possibility of preparing carbon-based fuels and valuable chemicals in a sustainable way. Herein, various Fe and Co clusters are designed to screen out the good catalysts with reasonable stability, as well as high activity and selectivity for either CH or CHCHOH generation through density functional theory (DFT) calculations. The binding energy and cohesive energy calculations show that both Fe and Co clusters can adsorb stably on the N-doped carbon (NC) with one metal atom anchored at the center of the defected hole via a classical MN structure.

Density Functional Theory Investigation of the NiO@Graphene Composite as a Urea Oxidation Catalyst in the Alkaline Electrolyte.

Developing efficient and low-cost urea oxidation reaction (UOR) catalysts is a promising but still challenging task for environment and energy conversion technologies such as wastewater remediation and urea electrolysis. In this work, NiO nanoparticles that incorporated graphene as the NiO@Graphene composite were constructed to study the UOR process in terms of density functional theory. The single-atom model, which differed from the previous heterojunction model, was employed for the adsorption/desorption of urea and CO in the alkaline media.

Two-dimensional conductive phthalocyanine-based metal-organic frameworks for electrochemical nitrite sensing.

2D nickel phthalocyanine based MOFs (NiPc-MOFs) with excellent conductivity were synthesized through a solvothermal approach. Benefiting from excellent conductivity and a large surface area, 2D NiPc-MOF nanosheets present excellent electrocatalytic activity for nitrite sensing, with an ultra-wide linear concentration from 0.01 mM to 11 500 mM and a low detection limit of 2.

A study on the correlation between the dewetting temperature of Ag film and SERS intensity.

The thermally dewetted metal nano-islands have been actively investigated as cost-effective SERS-active substrates with a large area, good reproducibility and repeatability via simple fabrication process. However, the correlation between the dewetting temperature of metal film and SERS intensity hasn't been systematically studied. In this work, taking Ag nano-islands (AgNIs) as an example, we reported a strategy to investigate the correlation between the dewetting temperature of metal film and SERS intensity.

Shape-Controlled Synthesis of Pt Nanopeanuts.

Exploring the novel shape of Pt nanoparticles is one of the most useful ways to improve the electrocatalytic performance of Pt in fuel cells. In this work, the Pt nanopeanuts consisting of two nanospheres grown together have been fabricated through a two-step polyol method. The high resolution scanning electron microscope (SEM) images and energy dispersive x-ray (EDX) spectrum collected at adjacent part point out the Pt nanopeanut is apparently different from the two physical attached nanospheres.

A Strategy to Promote the Electrocatalytic Activity of Spinels for Oxygen Reduction by Structure Reversal.

The electrocatalytic performance of a spinel for the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) can be significantly promoted by reversing its crystalline structure from the normal to the inverse. As the spinel structure reversed, the activation and cleavage of O-O bonds are accelerated owing to a dissimilarity effect of the distinct metal atoms co-occupying octahedral sites. The Co(II)Fe(III)Co(III)O4 spinel with the Fe and Co co-occupying inverse structure exhibits an excellent ORR activity, which even exceeds that of the state-of-the-art commercial Pt/C by 42 mV in alkaline medium.