CFO-SNSs, CFO-HNSs and MS-CFO-HNSs are controllably fabricated for the first time by a straightforward and cost-effective method on a large scale as superior anode materials for lithium ion batteries.
To improve the electrocatalytic activity of a cluster-based coordination compound constructed by Cu(I) and 4,6-dimethyl-2-mercaptopyrimidine ligand, its particles were loaded on N-doped mesoporous carbon matrix derived from peach juice. In this electrocatalyst, nanoparticles of the clusterbased coordination compound disperse homogeneously on mesoporous carbon matrix doped by nitrogen atoms. The size of the nanoparticles ranges from 6 to 8 nm. Surface area of the electrocatalyst is 296.4 m 2 •g −1 . In 1.0 M KOH, this electrocatalyst exhibits outstanding performance for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). To achieve current of 10 mA•cm −2 , the overpotential is only 60 mV and Tafel slope 63 mV•dec −1 . This electrocatalyst also shows outstanding oxygen evolution reaction (OER) performance. Under the same condition, to obtain a current of 10 mA• cm −2 , its overpotential is only 298 mV. The electrocatalyst possesses excellent durability; after 2000 cycles as well as 10 h longterm HER and OER tests, the current remains stable. To achieve overall water splitting, an electrolyzer is constructed with this bifunctional electrocatalyst as both cathode and anode at the same time. With 1.55 V of voltage, this electrocatalyst can obtain a current of 10 mA•cm −2 . The electrolyzer possesses excellent stability, which remains constant for 48 h in overall water splitting. We expect this bifunctional electrocatalyst can act as a new material for H 2 production.
A nitrogen doped carbon matrix supported CuO composite material (Cu/Cu2O@NC) was fabricated successfully with a coordination polymer as precursor through calcination. In this composite material, CuO particles with a size of about 6-10 nm were dispersed evenly in the nitrogen doped carbon matrix. After calcination, some coordinated nitrogen atoms were doped in the lattice of CuO and replace oxygen atoms, thus generating a large number of oxygen vacancies. In Cu/Cu2O@NC, the existence of oxygen vacancies has been confirmed by electron spin resonance (ESR) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). Under visible light irradiation, Cu/Cu2O@NC exhibits excellent H production with the rate of 379.6 μmol h g. Its photocatalytic activity affects organic dyes, such as Rhodamine B (RhB) and methyl orange (MO). In addition to photocatalysis, Cu/Cu2O@NC also exhibits striking catalytic activity in reductive conversion of 4-nitrophenol to 4-aminophenol with in presence of sodium borohydride (NaBH). The conversion efficiency reaches almost 100% in 250 s with the quantity of Cu/Cu2O@NC as low as 5 mg. The outstanding H production and organic pollutants removal are attributed to the oxygen vacancy. We expect that Cu/Cu2O@NC will find its way as a new resource for hydrogen energy as well as a promising material in water purification.
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