Ruthenium pyrochlores, that is, oxides of composition A2Ru2O7−δ, have emerged recently as state-of-the-art catalysts for the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) in acidic conditions. Here, we demonstrate that the A-site substituent in yttrium ruthenium pyrochlores Y1.8M0.2Ru2O7−δ (M = Cu, Co, Ni, Fe, Y) controls the concentration of surface oxygen vacancies (VO) in these materials whereby an increased concentration of VO sites correlates with a superior OER activity. DFT calculations rationalize these experimental trends demonstrating that the higher OER activity and VO surface density originate from a weakened strength of the M–O bond, scaling with the formation enthalpy of the respective MO x phases and the coupling between the M d states and O 2p states. Our work introduces a novel catalyst with improved OER performance, Y1.8Cu0.2Ru2O7−δ, and provides general guidelines for the design of active electrocatalysts.

Calcium looping, a CO2 capture technique, may offer a mid-term if not near-term solution to mitigate climate change, triggered by the yet increasing anthropogenic CO2 emissions. A key requirement for the economic operation of calcium looping is the availability of highly effective CaO-based CO2 sorbents. Here we report a facile synthesis route that yields hollow, MgO-stabilized, CaO microspheres featuring highly porous multishelled morphologies. As a thermal stabilizer, MgO minimized the sintering-induced decay of the sorbents’ CO2 capacity and ensured a stable CO2 uptake over multiple operation cycles. Detailed electron microscopy-based analyses confirm a compositional homogeneity which is identified, together with the characteristics of its porous structure, as an essential feature to yield a high-performance sorbent. After 30 cycles of repeated CO2 capture and sorbent regeneration, the best performing material requires as little as 11 wt.% MgO for structural stabilization and exceeds the CO2 uptake of the limestone-derived reference material by ~500%.

CO capture and storage is a promising concept to reduce anthropogenic CO emissions. The most established technology for capturing CO relies on amine scrubbing that is, however, associated with high costs. Technoeconomic studies show that using CaO as a high-temperature CO sorbent can significantly reduce the costs of CO capture. A serious disadvantage of CaO derived from earth-abundant precursors, e.g., limestone, is the rapid, sintering-induced decay of its cyclic CO uptake. Here, a template-assisted hydrothermal approach to develop CaO-based sorbents exhibiting a very high and cyclically stable CO uptake is exploited. The morphological characteristics of these sorbents, i.e., a porous shell comprised of CaO nanoparticles coated by a thin layer of Al O (<3 nm) containing a central void, ensure (i) minimal diffusion limitations, (ii) space to accompany the substantial volumetric changes during CO capture and release, and (iii) a minimal quantity of Al O for structural stabilization, thus maximizing the fraction of CO -capture-active CaO.

A key challenge in the catalytic conversion of CH 4 and CO 2 into a synthesis gas (CO and H 2 ) via the dry reforming of methane (DRM) is the development of stable catalysts. We demonstrate that the reductive exsolution of metallic Ru from fluorite-type solid solutions Sm 2 Ru x Ce 2−x O 7 (x = 0, 0.1, 0.2, 0.4) yields catalysts with high activity and remarkable stability for the DRM. The catalysts feature Ru(0) nanoparticles about 1−2 nm in diameter that are uniformly dispersed on the surface of the resulting oxide support. The exsolved material was investigated by synchrotron X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS at Ru, Sm, and Ce K-edges), Raman spectroscopy, and transmission electron microscopy. In situ XAS-XRD experiments revealed that the exsolution of metallic ruthenium is accompanied by a rearrangement of the oxygen vacancies within the lattice. The catalysts derived through exsolution outperform (stable over 4 days) the reference catalysts prepared by wetness impregnation and sodium borohydride reduction. The superior performance of the exsolved catalysts is explained by their high resistance to sintering-induced deactivation owing to the stabilizing metal−support interaction in this class of materials. It is also demonstrated that the Ru nanoparticles can undergo redissolution (in air at 700 °C)−exsolution cycles.

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A carbon-based sacrificial templating approach was employed to realize single-pot synthesis of cyclically stable CaO-based CO sorbents. The sacrificial carbonaceous template was formed through resorcinol-formaldehyde polymerization reaction. The resultant sorbents following the thermal decomposition of the carbonaceous template featured an inverse opal-like macrostructure composed of a highly porous nanostructured backbone. In addition to pure CaO, sorbents supported with AlO, MgO, YO, and ZrO were synthesized. SEM and XRD were utilized to characterize the morphology and the chemical composition of the synthetic CO sorbents, respectively. The cyclic CO uptake performance of the synthetic sorbents was assessed by TGA and compared to limestone. All of the synthetic sorbents exhibited an improved CO uptake performance when compared to limestone. The performance enhancement became more pronounced in the case of supported sorbents. The sorbent with the best CO uptake performance was supported by a mixture of AlO and YO, and exhibited a CO uptake of 0.61 g CO/g CaO after 10 cycles of calcination and carbonation under practically relevant operating temperatures, which exceeded the CO uptake of limestone by more than 350%.

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