Lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) are among the most promising and widely deployed energy storage sources, whereas, the lack of high capacity anode materials is a critical challenge to advance LIBs for...
Metal-free electrocatalysts represent a main branch of active materials for oxygen evolution reaction (OER), but they excessively rely on functionalized conjugated carbon materials, which substantially restricts the screening of potential efficient carbonaceous electrocatalysts. Herein, we demonstrate that a mesostructured polyacrylate hydrogel can afford an unexpected and exceptional OER activity – on par with that of benchmark IrO2 catalyst in alkaline electrolyte, together with a high durability and good adaptability in various pH environments. Combined theoretical and electrokinetic studies reveal that the positively charged carbon atoms within the carboxylate units are intrinsically active toward OER, and spectroscopic operando characterizations also identify the fingerprint superoxide intermediate generated on the polymeric hydrogel backbone. This work expands the scope of metal-free materials for OER by providing a new class of polymeric hydrogel electrocatalysts with huge extension potentials.
The devise and fabrication of highly efficient electrocatalysts have momentous practical significance for the development of future hydrogen energy systems. However, their potential uses in support construction are not well studied. In this work, a highly efficient electrocatalyst is developed for the hydrogen evolution reaction by anchoring single Pt atoms and clusters into functional amorphous pentlandite Fe 5 Ni 4 S 8 (or FNS) to yield Pt-FNS composites. Amorphous FNS still provides great conductivity to the composites, thereby promoting rapid charge transfer. The presence of abundant defects in Pt-FNS composite catalysts induces pleasant atomic dispersion and anchoring of Pt species. In addition, the formation of single Pt atoms combined with clusters and low-Pt-loading improves the utilization of Pt and reduces the cost. The turnover frequency analysis suggests Pt-FNS systems possess significant unit catalytic activity. The synergetic catalytic effect issued from high conductivity, abundant active sites and elevated intrinsic activity forms Pt-FNS systems with efficient pH-universal catalytic activity. The systems exhibit low overpotentials of only 30, 65, and 98 mV at 10 mA cm −2 under acidic, alkaline, and neutral conditions, respectively. In sum, the proposed route looks promising for the fabrication of new electrocatalysts with improved properties.
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