Synergistically Coupling Atomic-Level Defect-Manipulation and Nanoscopic-Level Interfacial Engineering Enables Fast and Durable Sodium Storage.

Through inducing interlayer anionic ligands and functionally modifying conductive carbon-skeleton on the transition metal chalcogenides (TMCs) parent to achieve atomic-level defect-manipulation and nanoscopic-level architecture design is of great significance, which can broaden interlayer distance, optimize electronic structure, and mitigate structural deformation to endow high-efficiency battery performance of TMCs. Herein, an intriguing 3D biconcave hollow-tyre-like anode constituted by carbon-packaged defective-rich SnSSe nanosheet grafting onto Aspergillus niger spores-derived hollow-carbon (ANDC@SnSSe@C) is reported. Systematically experimental investigations and theoretical analyses forcefully demonstrate the existence of anion Se ligand and outer-carbon all-around encapsulation on the ANDC@SnSSe@C can effectively yield abundant structural defects and Na+-reactivity sites, accelerate rapid ion migration, widen interlayer spacing, as well as relieve volume expansion, thus further resolving the critical issues throughout the charge-discharge processes. As anticipated, as-fabricated ANDC@SnSSe@C anode contributes extraordinary reversible capacity, wonderful cyclic lifespan with 83.4% capacity retention over 2000 cycles at 20.0 A g-1, and exceptional rate capability. A series of correlated kinetic investigations and ex situ characterizations deeply reveal the underlying springheads for the ion-transport kinetics, as well as synthetically elucidate phase-transformation mechanism of the ANDC@SnSSe@C. Furthermore, the ANDC@SnSSe@C-based sodium ion full cell and hybrid capacitor offer high-capacity contribution and remarkable energy-density output, indicative of its great practicability.

Facile Synthesis of Sub-Nanometric Copper Clusters by Double Confinement Enables Selective Reduction of Carbon Dioxide to Methane.

Previous density-functional theory (DFT) calculations show that sub-nanometric Cu clusters (i.e., 13 atoms) favorably generate CH4 from the CO2 reduction reaction (CO2 RR), but experimental evidence is lacking. Herein, a facile impregnation-calcination route towards Cu clusters, having a diameter of about 1.0 nm with about 10 atoms, was developed by double confinement of carbon defects and micropores. These Cu clusters enable high selectivity for the CO2 RR with a maximum Faraday efficiency of 81.7 % for CH4 . Calculations and experimental results show that the Cu clusters enhance the adsorption of *H and *CO intermediates, thus promoting generation of CH4 rather than H2 and CO. The strong interactions between the Cu clusters and defective carbon optimize the electronic structure of the Cu clusters for selectivity and stability towards generation of CH4 . Provided here is the first experimental evidence that sub-nanometric Cu clusters facilitate the production of CH4 from the CO2 RR.

Three-dimensional metal-organic framework derived porous CoP3 concave polyhedrons as superior bifunctional electrocatalysts for the evolution of hydrogen and oxygen.

Developing low-cost and highly-efficient non-precious metal bifunctional electrocatalysts towards the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and oxygen evolution reaction (OER) is an attractively alternative strategy to solve the environmental pollution problems and energy demands. In this study, metal-organic framework (MOF) derived porous cobalt poly-phosphide (CoP3) concave polyhedrons are prepared and explored as superior bifunctional electrocatalysts for the HER and OER. The prepared MOF derived CoP3 concave polyhedrons show excellent electrocatalytic activity and stability towards the HER and OER in both acidic and alkaline media, with the Tafel slopes of 53 mV dec-1 and 76 mV dec-1 and a current density of 10 mA cm-2 at the overpotentials of -78 and 343 mV for the HER and OER, respectively, which are remarkably superior to those of the transition metal phosphides (TMPs) and comparable to those of the commercial precious metal catalysts. In addition, they also offer efficient catalytic activities and durabilities under neutral and basic conditions for the HER. The results of our study may shed light on the direction towards highly efficient bifunctional TMP electrocatalysts with high phosphorous component.

Hierarchical Architecture Engineering of Branch-Leaf-Shaped Cobalt Phosphosulfide Quantum Dots: Enabling Multi-Dimensional Ion-Transport Channels for High-Efficiency Sodium Storage.

New-fashioned electrode hosts for sodium-ion batteries (SIBs) are elaborately engineered to involve multifunctional active components that can synergistically conquer the critical issues of severe volume deformation and sluggish reaction kinetics of electrodes toward immensely enhanced battery performance. Herein, it is first reported that single-phase CoPS, a new metal phosphosulfide for SIBs, in the form of quantum dots, is successfully introduced into a leaf-shaped conductive carbon nanosheet, which can be further in situ anchored on a 3D interconnected branch-like N-doped carbon nanofiber (N-CNF) to construct a hierarchical branch-leaf-shaped CoPS@C@N-CNF architecture. Both double carbon decorations and ultrafine crystal of the CoPS in-this exquisite architecture hold many significant superiorities, such as favorable train-relaxation, fast interfacial ion-migration, multi-directional migration pathways, and sufficiently exposed Na+ -storage sites. In consequence, the CoPS@C@N-CNF affords remarkable long-cycle durability over 10 000 cycles at 20.0 A g-1 and superior rate capability. Meanwhile, the CoPS@C@N-CNF-based sodium-ion full cell renders the potential proof-of-feasibility for practical applications in consideration of its high durability over a long-term cyclic lifespan with remarkable reversible capacity. Moreover, the phase transformation mechanism of the CoPS@C@N-CNF and fundamental springhead of the enhanced performance are disclosed by in situ X-ray diffraction, ex situ high-resolution TEM, and theoretical calculations.

Unconventional Synthesis of Hierarchically Twinned Copper as Efficient Electrocatalyst for Nitrate-Ammonia Conversion.

Twin boundary (TB) engineering provides exciting opportunities to tune the performance levels of metal-based electrocatalysts. However, the controllable construction of TB greatly relies on surfactants, blocking active sites, and electron transfer by surfactants. Here, a surfactant-free and facile strategy is proposed for synthesizing copper (Cu) nanocatalysts with dense hierarchical TB networks (HTBs) by the rapid thermal reductions in metastable CuO nanosheets in H2 . As revealed by in situ transmission electron microscopy, the formation of HTBs is associated with the fragmentation of nanosheets in different directions to generate abundant crystal nuclei and subsequently unconventional crystal growth through the collision and coalescence of nuclei. Impressively, the HTBs endow Cu with excellent electrocatalytic performance for direct nitrate-ammonia conversion, superior to that of Cu with a single-oriented TB and without TB. It is discovered that the HTBs induce the formation of compressive strains, thereby creating a synergistic effect of TBs and strains to efficiently tune the binding energies of Cu with nitrogen intermediates (i.e., NO2 *) and thus promote the tandem reaction process of NO3 - -to-NO2 - and subsequent NO2 - -to-NH3 electrocatalysis. This work demonstrates the crucial role of HTBs for boosting electrocatalysis via the synergistic effect of TBs and strains.

Subnanometric Ru clusters with upshifted D band center improve performance for alkaline hydrogen evolution reaction.

Subnanometric metal clusters usually have unique electronic structures and may display electrocatalytic performance distinctive from single atoms (SAs) and larger nanoparticles (NPs). However, the electrocatalytic performance of clusters, especially the size-activity relationship at the sub-nanoscale, is largely unexplored. Here, we synthesize a series of Ru nanocrystals from single atoms, subnanometric clusters to larger nanoparticles, aiming at investigating the size-dependent activity of hydrogen evolution in alkaline media. It is found that the d band center of Ru downshifts in a nearly linear relationship with the increase of diameter, and the subnanometric Ru clusters with d band center closer to Femi level display a stronger water dissociation ability and thus superior hydrogen evolution activity than SAs and larger nanoparticles. Benefiting from the high metal utilization and strong water dissociation ability, the Ru clusters manifest an ultrahigh turnover frequency of 43.3 s-1 at the overpotential of 100 mV, 36.1-fold larger than the commercial Pt/C.

Insight into the Superior Electrocatalytic Performance of a Ternary Nickel Iron Poly-Phosphide Nanosheet Array: An X-ray Absorption Study.

Although ternary components and doping with foreign atoms have been widely studied to enhance the electrocatalytic performance of transition metal phosphides, the underlying mechanism is not clear. Here, we fabricated ternary Ni-Fe-P nanosheets on carbon fiber paper as efficient electrodes and studied the local atomic and electronic structure alteration through X-ray absorption spectroscopy. The optimized ternary Ni-Fe-P nanosheet electrode exhibited superior hydrogen evolution activity and stability in 0.5 M H2SO4 with a low overpotential of 56 mV at 10 mA cm-2. X-ray absorption spectroscopy studies revealed that with the Fe ion incorporation into the system, the Ni-P bonds elongated and few electrons transferred from Ni to P which resulted in a reduced oxidation state of Ni and reduced the interaction between the hydrogen atom and the catalyst surface. Our work not only demonstrates the future potential of high-performance electrocatalysts based on ternary Ni-Fe-P but also offers a promising method to explore the unique synergistic effect in ternary compounds.