https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/smsc.202100012

Metal Chalcogenides with Heterostructures for High-Performance Rechargeable Batteries

Strategic design and fabrication of MXenes-Ti3CNCl2@CoS2 core-shell nanostructure for high-efficiency hydrogen evolution

Water splitting performance of metal and non-metal-doped transition metal oxide electrocatalysts

DFT-assisted rational design of CoMxP/CC (M = Fe, Mn, and Ni) as efficient electrocatalyst for wide pH range hydrogen evolution and oxygen evolution

Towards high-performance electrocatalysts: Activity optimization strategy of 2D MXenes-based nanomaterials for water-splitting

Developing a low cost, high performance, and durable bifunctional catalyst to boost the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and oxygen evolution reaction (OER) for water splitting is a critical yet challenging task. Transition metal phosphides have been identified as promising dual functional catalysts recently. Herein, we report a facile strategy to construct a heterostructure catalyst by integrating cobalt phosphide with molybdenum carbide (MXene). The CoP/Mo2CTx (T is the surface terminal group) catalyst exhibited good HER activity with an overpotential of 78 mV at a current density of 10 mA cm−2, close to that of the Pt/C benchmark, and its OER performance is markedly better than that of the RuO2 benchmark, evidenced by a very small overpotential of 260 mV at 10 mA cm−2 in 1 M KOH. Impressively, when employed for overall water splitting, CoP/Mo2CTx also outperformed the Pt/C + RuO2 combination with a voltage of 1.56 V @ 10 mA cm−2. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations revealed that CoP/Mo2CTx has appropriate water adsorption especially the optimal H* adsorption free energy (ΔGH*), and the Mo2C MXene support can significantly increase the total density of states and downshift the d-band center for the HER, while for the OER, multiple characterization techniques of CoP/Mo2CTx post the OER test show that CoP in the catalyst can be transformed into Co–OOH during the electrocatalytic process. This study can provide a pathway for the design and fabrication of MXene-supported noble-metal-free bifunctional catalysts toward practical water splitting and energy conversion.

Cobalt phosphide supported by two-dimensional molybdenum carbide (MXene) for the hydrogen evolution reaction, oxygen evolution reaction, and overall water splitting

Rational design of Ru aerogel and RuCo aerogels with abundant oxygen vacancies for hydrogen evolution reaction, oxygen evolution reaction, and overall water splitting

Developing high-performance catalysts for oxygen evolution reaction (OER) is critical for the widespread applications of clean and sustainable energy through electrochemical devices such as zinc-air batteries and (photo)electrochemical water splitting. Constructing heterostructure and oxygen vacancies have demonstrated great promises to boost the OER performance. Herein, we report a facile strategy to fabricate hetero-structured NiFe2 O4 /Ni3 S4 nanorods, where NiFe2 O4 can be derived from Fe-based metal-organic frameworks (MOFs). The NiFe2 O4 /Ni3 S4 catalyst exhibited excellent OER performance, evidenced by an overpotential value of 357 mV at the current density of 20 mA cm-2 , and a small Tafel slope of 87.46 mV dec-1 in 1 M KOH, superior to the benchmark IrO2 catalyst. Moreover, NiFe2 O4 /Ni3 S4 outperformed with regard to long-term durability for OER than IrO2 . Such outstanding OER performance is mainly accounted by the interface between NiFe2 O4 and Ni3 S4 , and the presence of rich oxygen vacancies. When employed as air-cathode in zinc-air batteries, the NiFe2 O4 /Ni3 S4 decorated battery had a high round-trip efficiency of 62.1% at 10 h, and possessed long-term stability of >50 h. This study may pave the way for fabricating non-noble-metal-based cost-effective, efficient and durable electrocatalysts for OER, zinc-air batteries, and beyond.

Shilong Liu

Papers

Cobalt phosphide supported by two-dimensional molybdenum carbide (MXene) for the hydrogen evolution reaction, oxygen evolution reaction, and overall water splitting

Rational design of Ru aerogel and RuCo aerogels with abundant oxygen vacancies for hydrogen evolution reaction, oxygen evolution reaction, and overall water splitting

Heterostructure and Oxygen Vacancies Promote NiFe 2 O 4 /Ni 3 S 4 toward Oxygen Evolution Reaction and Zn-Air Batteries

Engineering hollow metal ion-phenolic capsules and metal-doped hollow mesoporous carbon spheres with “full green” style