Liquid Metal-Enabled Tunable Synthesis of Nanoporous Polycrystalline Copper for Selective CO2-to-Formate Electrochemical Conversion.

Copper-based catalysts exhibit high activity in electrochemical CO2 conversion to value-added chemicals. However, achieving precise control over catalysts design to generate narrowly distributed products remains challenging. Herein, a gallium (Ga) liquid metal-based approach is employed to synthesize hierarchical nanoporous copper (HNP Cu) catalysts with tailored ligament/pore and crystallite sizes. The nanoporosity and polycrystallinity are generated by dealloying intermetallic CuGa2 formed after immersing pristine Cu foil in liquid Ga in a basic or acidic solution. The liquid metal-based approach allows for the transformation of monocrystalline Cu to the polycrystalline HNP Cu with enhanced CO2 reduction reaction (CO2RR) performance. The dealloyed HNP Cu catalyst with suitable crystallite size (22.8 nm) and nanoporous structure (ligament/pore size of 45 nm) exhibits a high Faradaic efficiency of 91% toward formate production under an applied potential as low as -0.3 VRHE. The superior CO2RR performance can be ascribed to the enlarged electrochemical catalytic surface area, the generation of preferred Cu facets, and the rich grain boundaries by polycrystallinity. This work demonstrates the potential of liquid metal-based synthesis for improving catalysts performance based on structural design, without increasing compositional complexity.

Electrosynthesis of Hydrogen Peroxide through Selective Oxygen Reduction: A Carbon Innovation from Active Site Engineering to Device Design.

Electrochemical synthesis of hydrogen peroxide (H2 O2 ) through the selective oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) offers a promising alternative to the energy-intensive anthraquinone method, while its success relies largely on the development of efficient electrocatalyst. Currently, carbon-based materials (CMs) are the most widely studied electrocatalysts for electrosynthesis of H2 O2 via ORR due to their low cost, earth abundance, and tunable catalytic properties. To achieve a high 2e- ORR selectivity, great progress is made in promoting the performance of carbon-based electrocatalysts and unveiling their underlying catalytic mechanisms. Here, a comprehensive review in the field is presented by summarizing the recent advances in CMs for H2 O2 production, focusing on the design, fabrication, and mechanism investigations over the catalytic active moieties, where an enhancement effect of defect engineering or heteroatom doping on H2 O2 selectivity is discussed thoroughly. Particularly, the influence of functional groups on CMs for a 2e- -pathway is highlighted. Further, for commercial perspectives, the significance of reactor design for decentralized H2 O2 production is emphasized, bridging the gap between intrinsic catalytic properties and apparent productivity in electrochemical devices. Finally, major challenges and opportunities for the practical electrosynthesis of H2 O2 and future research directions are proposed.

Recent Progress on Electrode Design for Efficient Electrochemical Valorisation of CO2 , O2 , and N2.

CO2 reduction, two-electron O2 reduction, and N2 reduction are sustainable technologies to valorise common molecules. Their further development requires working electrode design to promote the multistep electrochemical processes from gas reactants to value-added products at the device level. This review proposes critical features of a desirable electrode based on the fundamental electrochemical processes and the development of scalable devices. A detailed discussion is made to approach such a desirable electrode, addressing the recent progress on critical electrode components, assembly strategies, and reaction interface engineering. Further, we highlight the electrode design tailored to reaction properties (e.g., its thermodynamics and kinetics) for performance optimisation. Finally, the opportunities and remaining challenges are presented, providing a framework for rational electrode design to push these gas reduction reactions towards an improved technology readiness level (TRL).

Highly Selective Metal-Free Electrochemical Production of Hydrogen Peroxide on Functionalized Vertical Graphene Edges.

Electrochemical generation of hydrogen peroxide (H2 O2 ) is an attractive alternative to the energy-intensive anthraquinone oxidation process. Metal-free carbon-based materials such as graphene show great promise as efficient electrocatalysts in alkaline media. In particular, the graphene edges possess superior electrochemical properties than the basal plane. However, identification and enhancement of the catalytically active sites at the edges remain challenging. Furthermore, control of surface wettability to enhance gas diffusion and promote the performance in bulk electrolysis is largely unexplored. Here, a metal-free edge-rich vertical graphene catalyst is synthesized and exhibits a superior performance for H2 O2 production, with a high onset potential (0.8 V versus reversible hydrogen electrode (RHE) at 0.1 mA cm-2 ) and 100% Faradaic efficiency at various potentials. By tailoring the oxygen-containing functional groups using various techniques of electrochemical oxidation, thermal annealing and oxygen plasma post-treatment, the edge-bound in-plane ether-type (COC) groups are revealed to account for the superior catalytic performance. To manipulate the surface wettability, a simple vacuum-based method is developed to effectively induce material hydrophobicity by accelerating hydrocarbon adsorption. The increased hydrophobicity greatly enhances gas transfer without compromising the Faradaic efficiency, enabling a H2 O2 productivity of 1767 mmol gcatalyst -1 h-1 at 0.4 V versus RHE.

Constructing Atomic Heterometallic Sites in Ultrathin Nickel-Incorporated Cobalt Phosphide Nanosheets via a Boron-Assisted Strategy for Highly Efficient Water Splitting.

Identification of active sites for highly efficient catalysts at the atomic scale for water splitting is still a great challenge. Herein, we fabricate ultrathin nickel-incorporated cobalt phosphide porous nanosheets (Ni-CoP) featuring an atomic heterometallic site (NiCo16-xP6) via a boron-assisted method. The presence of boron induces a release-and-oxidation mechanism, resulting in the gradual exfoliation of hydroxide nanosheets. After a subsequent phosphorization process, the resultant Ni-CoP nanosheets are implanted with unsaturated atomic heterometallic NiCo16-xP6 sites (with Co vacancies) for alkaline hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and oxygen evolution reaction (OER). The optimized Ni-CoP exhibits a low overpotential of 88 and 290 mV at 10 mA cm-2 for alkaline HER and OER, respectively. This can be attributed to reduced free energy barriers, owing to the direct influence of center Ni atoms to the adjacent Co/P atoms in NiCo16-xP6 sites. These provide fundamental insights on the correlation between atomic structures and catalytic activity.

Constructing Interfacial Boron-Nitrogen Moieties in Turbostratic Carbon for Electrochemical Hydrogen Peroxide Production.

The electrochemical oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) provides a green route for decentralized H2 O2 synthesis, where a structure-selectivity relationship is pivotal for the control of a highly selective and active two-electron pathway. Here, we report the fabrication of a boron and nitrogen co-doped turbostratic carbon catalyst with tunable B-N-C configurations (CNB-ZIL) by the assistance of a zwitterionic liquid (ZIL) for electrochemical hydrogen peroxide production. Combined spectroscopic analysis reveals a fine tailored B-N moiety in CNB-ZIL, where interfacial B-N species in a homogeneous distribution tend to segregate into hexagonal boron nitride domains at higher pyrolysis temperatures. Based on the experimental observations, a correlation between the interfacial B-N moieties and HO2 - selectivity is established. The CNB-ZIL electrocatalysts with optimal interfacial B-N moieties exhibit a high HO2 - selectivity with small overpotentials in alkaline media, giving a HO2 - yield of ≈1787 mmol gcatalyst -1 h-1 at -1.4 V in a flow-cell reactor.

Intrinsic ORR Activity Enhancement of Pt Atomic Sites by Engineering the d-Band Center via Local Coordination Tuning.

A considerable amount of platinum (Pt) is required to ensure an adequate rate for the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) in fuel cells and metal-air batteries. Thus, the implementation of atomic Pt catalysts holds promise for minimizing the Pt content. In this contribution, atomic Pt sites with nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) co-coordination on a carbon matrix (PtNPC) are conceptually predicted and experimentally developed to alter the d-band center of Pt, thereby promoting the intrinsic ORR activity. PtNPC with a record-low Pt content (≈0.026 wt %) consequently shows a benchmark-comparable activity for ORR with an onset of 1.0 VRHE and half-wave potential of 0.85 VRHE . It also features a high stability in 15 000-cycle tests and a superior turnover frequency of 6.80 s-1 at 0.9 VRHE . Damjanovic kinetics analysis reveals a tuned ORR kinetics of PtNPC from a mixed 2/4-electron to a predominately 4-electron route. It is discovered that coordinated P species significantly shifts d-band center of Pt atoms, accounting for the exceptional performance of PtNPC.

N,P Co-Coordinated Manganese Atoms in Mesoporous Carbon for Electrochemical Oxygen Reduction.

The increasing interest in fuel cell technology encourages the development of efficient and low-cost electrocatalysts to replace the Pt based materials for catalyzing the cathodic oxygen reduction reaction (ORR). In the present work, a nitrogen and phosphorus co-coordinated manganese atom embedded mesoporous carbon composite (MnNPC-900) is successfully prepared via a polymerization of o-phenylenediamine followed by calcination at 900 °C. The MnNPC-900 composite shows a high ORR activity in alkaline media, offering an onset potential of 0.97 V, and a half-wave potential of 0.84 V (both vs reversible hydrogen electrode) with a loading of 0.4 mg cm-2 . This performance not only exceeds its phosphorus-free counterpart (MnNC-900), but also is comparable to the Pt/C catalyst under identical measuring conditions. The significantly enhanced ORR performance of MnNPC-900 can be ascribed to: i) the introduction of phosphorus assists the generation of mesopores during the pyrolysis and endows the MnNPC-900 composite with large surface area and pore volume, thus facilitating the mass transfer process and increases the number of exposed active sites. ii) The formation of N,P co-coordinated atomic-scale Mn sites (MnNx Py ), which modifies the electronic configuration of the Mn atoms and thereby boosts the ORR catalytic activity.

Highly Selective and Stable Reduction of CO2 to CO by a Graphitic Carbon Nitride/Carbon Nanotube Composite Electrocatalyst.

A stable and selective electrocatalyst for CO2 reduction was fabricated by covalently attaching graphitic carbon nitride onto multiwall carbon nanotubes (g-C3 N4 /MWCNTs). The as-prepared composite is able to reduce CO2 exclusively to CO with a maximum Faraday efficiency of 60 %, and no decay in the catalytic activity was observed even after 50 h of reaction. The enhanced catalytic activity towards CO2 reduction is attributed to the formation of active carbon-nitrogen bonds, high specific surface area, and improved material conductivity of the g-C3 N4 /MWCNT composite.

Electrocatalytic oxygen evolution at surface-oxidized multiwall carbon nanotubes.

Large-scale storage of renewable energy in the form of hydrogen (H2) fuel via electrolytic water splitting requires the development of water oxidation catalysts that are efficient and abundant. Carbon-based nanomaterials such as carbon nanotubes have attracted significant applications for use as substrates for anchoring metal-based nanoparticles. We show that, upon mild surface oxidation, hydrothermal annealing and electrochemical activation, multiwall carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) themselves are effective water oxidation catalysts, which can initiate the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) at overpotentials of 0.3 V in alkaline media. Oxygen-containing functional groups such as ketonic C═O generated on the outer wall of MWCNTs are found to play crucial roles in catalyzing OER by altering the electronic structures of the adjacent carbon atoms and facilitates the adsorption of OER intermediates. The well-preserved microscopic structures and highly conductive inner walls of MWCNTs enable efficient transport of the electrons generated during OER.

Graphene and MOF Assembly: Enhanced Fabrication and Functional Derivative via MOF Amorphization.

The integration of graphene and metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) has numerous implications across various domains, but fabricating such assemblies is often complicated and time-consuming. Herein, a one-step preparation of graphene-MOF assembly is presented by directly impregnating vertical graphene (VG) arrays into the zeolitic imidazolate framework (ZIF) precursors under ambient conditions. This approach can effectively assemble multiple ZIFs, including ZIF-7, ZIF-8, and ZIF-67, resulting in their uniform dispersion on the VG with adjustable sizes and shapes. Hydrogen defects on the VG surface are critical in inducing such high-efficiency ZIF assembly, acting as the reactive sites to interact with the ZIF precursors and facilitate their crystallisation. The versatility of VG-ZIF-67 assembly is further demonstrated by exploring the process of MOF amorphization. Surprisingly, this process leads to an amorphous thin-film coating formed on VG (named VG-IL-amZIF-67), which preserves the short-range molecular bonds of crystalline ZIF-67 while sacrificing the long-range order. Such a unique film-on-graphene architecture maintains the essential characteristics and functionalities of ZIF-67 within a disordered arrangement, making it well-suited for electrocatalysis. In electrochemical oxygen reduction, VG-IL-amZIF-67 exhibits exceptional activity, selectivity, and stability to produce H2O2 in acid media.

Controlled electrochemical intercalation, exfoliation and in situ nitrogen doping of graphite in nitrate-based protic ionic liquids.

Few-layer nitrogen-doped graphene has been prepared via fast and controlled electrochemical exfoliation of graphite in a protic ionic liquid ethylammonium nitrate. The method presents a potentially scalable approach for preparation of metal-free, N-doped graphene for use as electrocatalysts for oxygen reduction reactions.

Materials Design and System Innovation for Direct and Indirect Seawater Electrolysis.

Green hydrogen production from renewably powered water electrolysis is considered as an ideal approach to decarbonizing the energy and industry sectors. Given the high-cost supply of ultra-high-purity water, as well as the mismatched distribution of water sources and renewable energies, combining seawater electrolysis with coastal solar/offshore wind power is attracting increasing interest for large-scale green hydrogen production. However, various impurities in seawater lead to corrosive and toxic halides, hydroxide precipitation, and physical blocking, which will significantly degrade catalysts, electrodes, and membranes, thus shortening the stable service life of electrolyzers. To accelerate the development of seawater electrolysis, it is crucial to widen the working potential gap between oxygen evolution and chlorine evolution reactions and develop flexible and highly efficient seawater purification technologies. In this review, we comprehensively discuss present challenges, research efforts, and design principles for direct/indirect seawater electrolysis from the aspects of materials engineering and system innovation. Further opportunities in developing efficient and stable catalysts, advanced membranes, and integrated electrolyzers are highlighted for green hydrogen production from both seawater and low-grade water sources.

Liquid-Metal Solvents for Designing Hierarchical Nanoporous Metals at Low Temperatures.

Metallic nanoarchitectures hold immense value as functional materials across diverse applications. However, major challenges lie in effectively engineering their hierarchical porosity while achieving scalable fabrication at low processing temperatures. Here we present a liquid-metal solvent-based method for the nanoarchitecting and transformation of solid metals. This was achieved by reacting liquid gallium with solid metals to form crystalline entities. Nanoporous features were then created by selectively removing the less noble and comparatively softer gallium from the intermetallic crystals. By controlling the crystal growth and dealloying conditions, we realized the effective tuning of the micro-/nanoscale porosities. Proof-of-concept examples were shown by applying liquid gallium to solid copper, silver, gold, palladium, and platinum, while the strategy can be extended to a wider range of metals. This metallic-solvent-based route enables low-temperature fabrication of metallic nanoarchitectures with tailored porosity. By demonstrating large-surface-area and scalable hierarchical nanoporous metals, our work addresses the pressing demand for these materials in various sectors.

Atomically Dispersed Cu Catalysts on Sulfide-Derived Defective Ag Nanowires for Electrochemical CO2 Reduction.

Single-atom catalysts (SACs) have shown potential for achieving an efficient electrochemical CO2 reduction reaction (CO2RR) despite challenges in their synthesis. Here, Ag2S/Ag nanowires provide initial anchoring sites for Cu SACs (Cu/Ag2S/Ag), then Cu/Ag(S) was synthesized by an electrochemical treatment resulting in complete sulfur removal, i.e., Cu SACs on a defective Ag surface. The CO2RR Faradaic efficiency (FECO2RR) of Cu/Ag(S) reaches 93.0% at a CO2RR partial current density (jCO2RR) of 2.9 mA/cm2 under -1.0 V vs RHE, which outperforms sulfur-removed Ag2S/Ag without Cu SACs (Ag(S), 78.5% FECO2RR with 1.8 mA/cm2jCO2RR). At -1.4 V vs RHE, both FECO2RR and jCO2RR over Cu/Ag(S) reached 78.6% and 6.1 mA/cm2, which tripled those over Ag(S), respectively. As revealed by in situ and ex situ characterizations together with theoretical calculations, the interacted Cu SACs and their neighboring defective Ag surface increase microstrain and downshift the d-band center of Cu/Ag(S), thus lowering the energy barrier by ∼0.5 eV for *CO formation, which accounts for the improved CO2RR activity and selectivity toward related products such as CO and C2+ products.

Determination of water in room temperature ionic liquids by cathodic stripping voltammetry at a gold electrode.

An electrochemical method based on cathodic stripping voltammetry at a gold electrode has been developed for the determination of water in ionic liquids. The technique has been applied to two aprotic ionic liquids, (1-butyl-3-ethylimidazolium tetrafluoroborate and 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium hexafluorophosphate), and two protic ionic liquids, (bis(2-hydroxyethyl)ammonium acetate and triethylammonium acetate). When water is present in an ionic liquid, electrooxidation of a gold electrode forms gold oxides. Thus, application of an anodic potential scan or holding the potential of the electrode at a very positive value leads to accumulation of an oxide film. On applying a cathodic potential scan, a sensitive stripping peak is produced as a result of the reduction of gold oxide back to gold. The magnitude of the peak current generated from the stripping process is a function of the water concentration in an ionic liquid. The method requires no addition of reagents and can be used for the sensitive and in situ determination of water present in small volumes of ionic liquids. Importantly, the method allows the determination of water in the carboxylic acid-based ionic liquids, such as acetate-based protic ionic liquids, where the widely used Karl Fischer titration method suffering from an esterification side reaction which generates water as a side product.

Bandgap-engineered ferroelectric single-crystalline NBT-BT based nanocomposites with excellent visible light-ultrasound catalytic performance.

Bandgap engineered ferroelectrics exhibit encouraging multi-energy catalytic performance by coupling the piezoelectricity and photoexcitation, which shows immense potential for environmental remediation and fuel production. However, it is challenging to prepare nano single-crystalline ferroelectric piezo-photoelectric with strong visible light absorption ability. Here, Ni mediated NBT-BT(NBT-BNT) single-crystalline nanocubes around 100 nm with considerable visible light absorption were synthesized by a high-temperature hydrothermal method. The mechanism of Ni2+ on the formation of NBT-BT nanocubes was proposed. The catalytic efficiency of NBT-BNT nanocubes is enhanced by decorating carbon quantum dots (CQDs). The RhB can be degraded within 8 min and the hydrogen production rate reaches up to ∼350 µmol g-1h-1 under visible light-ultrasonic condition. Moreover, under the simulated sunlight-ultrasound condition, RhB can be degraded within merely 3 min and a high H2 production rate of ∼747 µmol g-1h-1 is achieved. This work presents a paradigm for preparing ferroelectric single-crystalline nanocatalysts for multi-energy catalytic application.

Stabilizing the Unstable: Chromium Coating on NiMo Electrode for Enhanced Stability in Intermittent Water Electrolysis.

Hydrogen production through water electrolysis is a promising method to utilize renewable energy in the context of urgent need to phase out fossil fuels. Nickel-molybdenum (NiMo) electrodes are among the best performing non-noble metal-based electrodes for hydrogen evolution reaction in alkaline media (alkaline HER). Albeit exhibiting stable performance in electrolysis at a constant power supply (i.e., constant electrolysis), NiMo electrodes suffer from performance degradation in electrolysis at an intermittent power supply (i.e., intermittent electrolysis), which is emblematic of electrolysis powered directly by renewable energy (such as wind and solar power sources). Here we reveal that NiMo electrodes were oxidized by dissolved oxygen during power interruption, leading to vanishing of metallic Ni active sites and loss of conductivity in MoOx substrate. Based on the understanding of the degradation mechanism, chromium (Cr) coating was successfully applied as a protective layer to inhibit oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) and significantly enhance the stability of NiMo electrodes in intermittent electrolysis. Further, combining experimental and Molecular Dynamics (MD) simulations, we demonstrate that the Cr coating served as a physical barrier inhibiting diffusion of oxygen, while still allowing other species to pass through. Our work offers insights into electrode behavior in intermittent electrolysis, as well as provides Cr coating as a valid method and corresponding deep understanding of the factors for stability enhancement, paving the way for the successful application of lab-scale electrodes in industrial electrolysis powered directly by renewable energy.

Electronic Structure Engineering of Single-Atom Ru Sites via Co-N4 Sites for Bifunctional pH-Universal Water Splitting.

The development of bifunctional water-splitting electrocatalysts that are efficient and stable over a wide range of pH is of great significance but challenging. Here, an atomically dispersed Ru/Co dual-sites catalyst is reported anchored on N-doped carbon (Ru/Co-N-C) for outstanding oxygen evolution reaction (OER) and hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) in both acidic and alkaline electrolytes. The Ru/Co-N-C catalyst requires the overpotential of only 13 and 23 mV for HER, 232 and 247 mV for OER to deliver a current density of 10 mA cmgeo -2 in 0.5 m H2 SO4 and 1 m KOH, respectively, outperforming benchmark catalysts Pt/C and RuO2 . Theoretical calculations reveal that the introduction of Co-N4 sites into Ru/Co-N-C efficiently modify the electronic structure of Ru by enlarging Ru-O covalency and increasing Ru electron density, which in turn optimize the bonding strength between oxygen/hydrogen intermediate species with Ru sites, thereby enhancing OER and HER performance. Furthermore, the incorporation of Co-N4 sites induces electron redistribution around Ru-N4, thus enhancing corrosion-resistance of Ru/Co-N-C during acid and alkaline electrolysis. The Ru/Co-N-C has been applied in a proton exchange membrane water electrolyzer and steady operation is demonstrated at a high current density of 450 mA cmgeo -2 for 330 h.

Modulating Pt-O-Pt atomic clusters with isolated cobalt atoms for enhanced hydrogen evolution catalysis.

Platinum is the most efficient catalyst for hydrogen evolution reaction in acidic conditions, but its widespread use has been impeded by scarcity and high cost. Herein, Pt atomic clusters (Pt ACs) containing Pt-O-Pt units were prepared using Co/N co-doped carbon (CoNC) as support. Pt ACs are anchored to single Co atoms on CoNC by forming strong interactions. Pt-ACs/CoNC exhibits only 24 mV overpotential at 10 mA cm-2 and a high mass activity of 28.6 A mg-1 at 50 mV, which is more than 6 times higher than commercial Pt/C with any Pt loadings. Spectroscopic measurements and computational modeling reveal the enhanced hydrogen generation activity attributes to the charge redistribution between Pt and O atoms in Pt-O-Pt units, making Pt atoms the main active sites and O linkers the assistants, thus optimizing the proton adsorption and hydrogen desorption. This work opens an avenue to fabricate noble-metal-based ACs stabilized by single-atom catalysts with desired properties for electrocatalysis.