Beyond Anion Template: Polyoxometalate as a Property Influencer in High-Nuclearity Silver Thiolate Cluster.

Two 48-nuclei silver nanocages with similar structures and compositions were synthesized by using Keggin-type polyoxometalates (POMs) BW12 and SiW11Ni as anionic templates. However, their photoluminescence and photocurrent properties showed obvious differences. These results suggest that POMs not only serve as anion templates in constructing silver clusters but also influence their properties.

POMs@ZIF-8 derived transition metal carbides for urea electrolysis-assisted hydrogen generation.

Employing the urea oxidation reaction (UOR) instead of the water oxidation reaction can not only decrease the theoretic hydrogen generation cell voltage in sustainable energy conversion but also eliminate urea pollution in water. Herein, we used a facile in situ trapping and pre-modification strategy to synthesize MoC@C and hybrid Ni/WC@C nanoparticles and employed the two materials as hydrogen evolution reaction and UOR catalysts, respectively, in an electrolytic cell. The resultant setup can achieve a catalytic current density of 20 mA cm-2 at a cell voltage of 1.5 V in alkaline solutions and maintain stability for at least 12 h in the same conditions.