Southwest University

About: Southwest University is a education organization based out in Chongqing, China. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Bombyx mori. The organization has 29772 authors who have published 27755 publications receiving 409441 citations. The organization is also known as: Southwest University in Chongqing & SWU.

A Janus Fe‑SnO 2 Catalyst that Enables Bifunctional Electrochemical Nitrogen Fixation

Abstract: Electrochemical N2 reduction reactions (NRR) and the N2 oxidation reaction (NOR), using H2 O and N2 , are a sustainable approach to N2 fixation. To date, owing to the chemical inertness of nitrogen, emerging electrocatalysts for the electrochemical NRR and NOR at room temperature and atmospheric pressure remain largely underexplored. Herein, a new-type Fe-SnO2 was designed as a Janus electrocatalyst for achieving highly efficient NRR and NOR catalysis. A high NH3 yield of 82.7 μg h-1 mgcat. -1 and a Faraday efficiency (FE) of 20.4 % were obtained for NRR. This catalyst can also serve as an excellent NOR electrocatalyst with a NO3 - yields of 42.9 μg h-1 mgcat. -1 and a FE of 0.84 %. By means of experiments and DFT calculations, it is revealed that the oxygen vacancy-anchored single-atom Fe can effectively adsorb and activate chemical inert N2 molecules, lowering the energy barrier for the vital breakage of N≡N and resulting in the enhanced N2 fixation performance.

Construction of one-dimensional nanostructures on graphene for efficient energy conversion and storage

Abstract: One-dimensional (1D) nanostructures can efficiently scatter incident light, resulting in improved absorption or complete absorption for solar energy conversion and storage. However, 1D nanostructures often lack good conductivity for fast charge transfer and/or transport. A thin-layer coating of graphene gives superior conductivity for improving the charge transport ability while its highly transparency does not deteriorate the light absorption. Thus, construction of 1D nanostructured materials on graphene as an electrode to synergistically boost high-efficiency energy conversion and storage have attracted great attention in recent years. In this feature review, starting with general concepts of 1D nanostructures on a substrate, various advanced methods for the design, fabrication and characterization of different 1D nanostructures comprising inorganic, organic and hybrid materials built on graphene are systematically surveyed. In particular, the significant progress in fabrication strategies, superior nanostructures and unique architectures is discussed, while the excellent electrical, optical, mechanical, and electrochemical properties of the nanostructured composites as well as their important applications in lithium-ion batteries, supercapacitors, solar cells, light-emitting diodes and nanogenerators are also presented. The enhancement mechanisms for the efficient energy conversion and storage are highlighted to elicit scientific insights. The challenges and prospects are also deliberated to spark our future researches. This review provides critical and updated knowledge for researchers to further explore new 1D-structured materials on graphene and their important applications in energy conversion and storage.