Identifying Performance Descriptors in CO2 Hydrogenation over Iron-Based Catalysts Promoted with Alkali Metals.

Alkali metal promoters have been widely employed for preparation of heterogeneous catalysts used in many industrially important reactions. However, the fundamentals of their effects are usually difficult to access. Herein, we unravel mechanistic and kinetic aspects of the role of alkali metals in CO2 hydrogenation over Fe-based catalysts through state-of-the-art characterization techniques, spatially resolved steady-state and transient kinetic analyses. The promoters affect electronic properties of iron in iron carbides. These carbide characteristics determine catalyst ability to activate H2 , CO and CO2 . The Allen scale electronegativity of alkali metal promoter was successfully correlated with the rates of CO2 hydrogenation to higher hydrocarbons and CH4 as well as with the rate constants of individual steps of CO or CO2 activation. The derived knowledge can be valuable for designing and preparing catalysts applied in other reactions where such promoters are also used.

Bridging experiment and theory: enhancing the electrical conductivities of soft-templated niobium-doped mesoporous titania films.

Theoretical calculations suggest a strong dependence of electrical conductivity and doping concentration in transition-metal doped titania. Herein, we present a combined theoretical and experimental approach for the prediction of relative phase stability and electrical conductivity in niobium-doped titania as model system. Our method paves the way towards the development of materials with improved electrical properties.

Unraveling the synergistic effects of Cu-Ag tandem catalysts during electrochemical CO2 reduction using nanofocused X-ray probes.

Controlling the selectivity of the electrocatalytic reduction of carbon dioxide into value-added chemicals continues to be a major challenge. Bulk and surface lattice strain in nanostructured electrocatalysts affect catalytic activity and selectivity. Here, we unravel the complex dynamics of synergistic lattice strain and stability effects of Cu-Ag tandem catalysts through a previously unexplored combination of in situ nanofocused X-ray absorption spectroscopy and Bragg coherent diffraction imaging. Three-dimensional strain maps reveal the lattice dynamics inside individual nanoparticles as a function of applied potential and product yields. Dynamic relations between strain, redox state, catalytic activity and selectivity are derived. Moderate Ag contents effectively reduce the competing evolution of H2 and, concomitantly, lead to an enhanced corrosion stability. Findings from this study evidence the power of advanced nanofocused spectroscopy techniques to provide new insights into the chemistry and structure of nanostructured catalysts.

Mesoporous WCx Films with NiO-Protected Surface: Highly Active Electrocatalysts for the Alkaline Oxygen Evolution Reaction.

Metal carbides are promising materials for electrocatalytic reactions such as water electrolysis. However, for application in catalysis for the oxygen evolution reaction (OER), protection against oxidative corrosion, a high surface area with facile electrolyte access, and control over the exposed active surface sites are highly desirable. This study concerns a new method for the synthesis of porous tungsten carbide films with template-controlled porosity that are surface-modified with thin layers of nickel oxide (NiO) to obtain active and stable OER catalysts. The method relies on the synthesis of soft-templated mesoporous tungsten oxide (mp. WOx ) films, a pseudomorphic transformation into mesoporous tungsten carbide (mp. WCx ), and a subsequent shape-conformal deposition of finely dispersed NiO species by atomic layer deposition (ALD). As theoretically predicted by density functional theory (DFT) calculations, the highly conductive carbide support promotes the conversion of Ni2+ into Ni3+ , leading to remarkably improved utilization of OER-active sites in alkaline medium. The obtained Ni mass-specific activity is about 280 times that of mesoporous NiOx (mp. NiOx ) films. The NiO-coated WCx catalyst achieves an outstanding mass-specific activity of 1989 A gNi -1 in a rotating-disc electrode (RDE) setup at 25 °C using 0.1 m KOH as the electrolyte.

Role of Water in Phase Transformations and Crystallization of Ferrihydrite and Hematite.

The oxides, hydroxides, and oxo-hydroxides of iron belong to the most abundant materials on earth. They also feature a wide range of practical applications. In many environments, they can undergo facile phase transformations and crystallization processes. Water appears to play a critical role in many of these processes. Despite numerous attempts, the role of water has not been fully revealed yet. We present a new approach to study the influence of water in the crystallization and phase transformations of iron oxides. The approach employs model-type iron oxide films that comprise a defined homogeneous nanostructure. The films are exposed to air containing different amounts of water reaching up to pressures of 10 bar. Ex situ analysis via scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, selected area electron diffraction, and X-ray diffraction is combined with operando near-ambient pressure X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy to follow water-induced changes in hematite and ferrihydrite. Water proves to be critical for the nucleation of hematite domains in ferrihydrite, the resulting crystallite orientation, and the underlying crystallization mechanism.