Boron modulating electronic structure of FeN4C to initiate high-efficiency oxygen reduction reaction and high-performance zinc-air battery

Considering single-atom catalysts as photocatalysts from synthesis to application

“…With empty and occupied orbitals, the atomic structures of some nonmetal elements (e.g., B, Si, etc.) are similar to that of the transition metals ( Zhao et al., 2022 ). Compared with metal-based SAPs, metal-free-based SAPs have also been extensively studied due to their low cost and environmental friendliness.…”

Manipulating the electronic configuration of Fe–N4sites by an electron-withdrawing/donating strategy with improved oxygen electroreduction performance

“…S11, ESI †). 25 Furthermore, the B 1s spectrum of Fe-SA/BNC could be deconvoluted into four peaks at 189. 6, 191.4, 192.6 and 192.0 eV, corresponding to the contributions of BC 3 , BC 2 O, BCO 2 and C-B-N, respectively (Fig.…”

Atomically Dispersed Transition Metal-Nitrogen-Carbon Bifunctional Oxygen Electrocatalysts for Zinc-Air Batteries: Recent Advances and Future Perspectives

“…Based on pristine M-N-C catalyst, inserting secondary heteroatoms with a discrepancy in electron spin density and electronegativity can modulate the coordination environment and correspondingly alter electronic configurations of the M-N-C sites. Heteroatoms can also influence the catalytic activity of the M-N-C sites through the long-range delocalization and charge transfer effect, even if they cannot bind directly to the M-N-C sites [ 18 , 61 , 66 , 76 , 78 , 97 , 103 , 104 , 108 ]. Moreover, injecting heteroatoms into the electrocatalyst surface can significantly increase the density of active sites without severe structural collapse [ 12 ].…”