Sustainable Cellulose Nanofibers-Mediated Synthesis of Uniform Spinel Zn-Ferrites Nanocorals for High Performances in Supercapacitors.

Spinel ferrites are versatile, low-cost, and abundant metal oxides with remarkable electronic and magnetic properties, which find several applications. Among them, they have been considered part of the next generation of electrochemical energy storage materials due to their variable oxidation states, low environmental toxicity, and possible synthesis through simple green chemical processing. However, most traditional procedures lead to the formation of poorly controlled materials (in terms of size, shape, composition, and/or crystalline structure). Thus, we report herein a cellulose nanofibers-mediated green procedure to prepare controlled highly porous nanocorals comprised of spinel Zn-ferrites. Then, they presented remarkable applications as electrodes in supercapacitors, which were thoroughly and critically discussed. The spinel Zn-ferrites nanocorals supercapacitor showed a much higher maximum specific capacitance (2031.81 F g-1 at a current density of 1 A g-1) than Fe2O3 and ZnO counterparts prepared by a similar approach (189.74 and 24.39 F g-1 at a current density of 1 A g-1). Its cyclic stability was also scrutinized via galvanostatic charging/discharging and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy, indicating excellent long-term stability. In addition, we manufactured an asymmetric supercapacitor device, which offered a high energy density value of 18.1 Wh kg-1 at a power density of 2609.2 W kg-1 (at 1 A g-1 in 2.0 mol L-1 KOH electrolyte). Based on our findings, we believe that higher performances observed for spinel Zn-ferrites nanocorals could be explained by their unique crystal structure and electronic configuration based on crystal field stabilization energy, which provides an electrostatic repulsion between the d electrons and the p orbitals of the surrounding oxygen anions, creating a level of energy that determines their final supercapacitance then evidenced, which is a very interesting property that could be explored for the production of clean energy storage devices.

Zn-doped MnOx nanowires displaying plentiful crystalline defects and tunable small cross-sections for an optimized volcano-type performance towards supercapacitors.

MnOx-based nanomaterials are promising large-scale electrochemical energy storage devices due to their high specific capacity, low toxicity, and low cost. However, their slow diffusion kinetics is still challenging, restricting practical applications. Here, a one-pot and straightforward method was reported to produce Zn-doped MnOx nanowires with abundant defects and tunable small cross-sections, exhibiting an outstanding specific capacitance. More specifically, based on a facile hydrothermal strategy, zinc sites could be uniformly dispersed in the α-MnOx nanowires structure as a function of composition (0.3, 2.1, 4.3, and 7.6 wt.% Zn). Such a process avoided the formation of different crystalline phases during the synthesis. The reproducible method afforded uniform nanowires, in which the size of cross-sections decreased with the increase of Zn composition. Surprisingly, we found a volcano-type relationship between the storage performance and the Zn loading. In this case, we demonstrated that the highest performance material could be achieved by incorporating 2.1 wt.% Zn, exhibiting a remarkable specific capacitance of 1082.2 F.g-1 at a charge/discharge current density of 1.0 A g-1 in a 2.0 mol L-1 KOH electrolyte. The optimized material also afforded improved results for hybrid supercapacitors. Thus, the results presented herein shed new insights into preparing defective and controlled nanomaterials by a simple one-step method for energy storage applications.

Facile Gram-Scale Synthesis of NiO Nanoflowers for Highly Selective and Sensitive Electrocatalytic Detection of Hydrazine.

The design and development of efficient and electrocatalytic sensitive nickel oxide nanomaterials have attracted attention as they are considered cost-effective, stable, and abundant electrocatalytic sensors. However, although innumerable electrocatalysts have been reported, their large-scale production with the same activity and sensitivity remains challenging. In this study, we report a simple protocol for the gram-scale synthesis of uniform NiO nanoflowers (approximately 1.75 g) via a hydrothermal method for highly selective and sensitive electrocatalytic detection of hydrazine. The resultant material was characterized by scanning electron microscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and X-ray diffraction. For the production of the modified electrode, NiO nanoflowers were dispersed in Nafion and drop-cast onto the surface of a glassy carbon electrode (NiO NF/GCE). By cyclic voltammetry, it was possible to observe the excellent performance of the modified electrode toward hydrazine oxidation in alkaline media, providing an oxidation overpotential of only +0.08 V vs Ag/AgCl. In these conditions, the peak current response increased linearly with hydrazine concentration ranging from 0.99 to 98.13 µmol L-1. The electrocatalytic sensor showed a high sensitivity value of 0.10866 µA L µmol-1. The limits of detection and quantification were 0.026 and 0.0898 µmol L-1, respectively. Considering these results, NiO nanoflowers can be regarded as promising surfaces for the electrochemical determination of hydrazine, providing interesting features to explore in the electrocatalytic sensor field.

MnO2-Ir Nanowires: Combining Ultrasmall Nanoparticle Sizes, O-Vacancies, and Low Noble-Metal Loading with Improved Activities towards the Oxygen Reduction Reaction.

Although clean energy generation utilizing the Oxygen Reduction Reaction (ORR) can be considered a promising strategy, this approach remains challenging by the dependence on high loadings of noble metals, mainly Platinum (Pt). Therefore, efforts have been directed to develop new and efficient electrocatalysts that could decrease the Pt content (e.g., by nanotechnology tools or alloying) or replace them completely in these systems. The present investigation shows that high catalytic activity can be reached towards the ORR by employing 1.8 ± 0.7 nm Ir nanoparticles (NPs) deposited onto MnO2 nanowires surface under low Ir loadings (1.2 wt.%). Interestingly, we observed that the MnO2-Ir nanohybrid presented high catalytic activity for the ORR close to commercial Pt/C (20.0 wt.% of Pt), indicating that it could obtain efficient performance using a simple synthetic procedure. The MnO2-Ir electrocatalyst also showed improved stability relative to commercial Pt/C, in which only a slight activity loss was observed after 50 reaction cycles. Considering our findings, the superior performance delivered by the MnO2-Ir nanohybrid may be related to (i) the significant concentration of reduced Mn3+ species, leading to increased concentration of oxygen vacancies at its surface; (ii) the presence of strong metal-support interactions (SMSI), in which the electronic effect between MnOx and Ir may enhance the ORR process; and (iii) the unique structure comprised by Ir ultrasmall sizes at the nanowire surface that enable the exposure of high energy surface/facets, high surface-to-volume ratios, and their uniform dispersion.

The role and fate of capping ligands in colloidally prepared metal nanoparticle catalysts.

Metal nanoparticles have received intense scientific attention in the field of catalysis. Precise engineering of nanomaterials' size, shape and surface composition, including adsorbed capping ligands, is of utmost importance to control activity and selectivity, and distinguish colloidally prepared metal nanoparticle catalysts from traditional heterogeneous catalysts. The interface between the material and the reaction medium is where the key interactions occur; therefore, catalysis occurs under the influence of capping ligands. In this Perspective review, we focus on the choice of capping ligands (or stabilizing agents), and their role and fate in different steps from preparation to catalysis. Evaluating the influence of the ligands on the catalytic response is not trivial, but the literature provides examples where the ligands adsorbed on the nanoparticle surface dramatically change the activity and selectivity for a particular reaction, while acting either as a dynamic shell or a passivation coating. Steric and electronic effects resulting from the presence of adsorbed ligands have been proposed to influence the catalytic properties. Attempts to remove the capping ligands are discussed, even though they are not always successful or even necessary. Finally, we outline our personal understanding and perspectives on the use of ligands or functionalized supports to tune the activity and selectivity of supported metal nanoparticles.

Magnesium surface enrichment of CoFe2O4 magnetic nanoparticles immobilized with gold: reusable catalysts for green oxidation of benzyl alcohol.

Gold nanoparticles have shown excellent activity for selective oxidation of alcohols; such catalytic systems are highly dependent on the initial activation of the substrates, which must occur on the catalyst surface in heterogeneous catalysts. In many cases, an extra base addition is required, although the basicity of the support may also be of significant importance. Here, we explored the intrinsic basicity of magnesium-based enrichments on CoFe2O4 magnetic nanoparticles for the oxidation of benzyl alcohol using molecular oxygen as oxidant. The MgO and Mg(OH)2 enrichments enabled gold impregnation, which was not possible on the bare CoFe2O4 nanoparticles. The Au/MgO/CoFe2O4 and Au/Mg(OH)2/CoFe2O4 catalysts reached 42% and 18% conversion, respectively without base promotion, in 2.5 hour and 2 bar of O2. When the catalysts were tested with sub-stoichiometric amounts of base, they became more active (>70% of conversion) and stable in successive recycling experiments without metal leaching, under the same reaction conditions. We also showed the oxide phases of the enrichments performed using Rietveld refinements and how the Mg(OH)2 phase interferes with the activity of MgO-based materials.