Intermetallic PtTe metallene for formic acid oxidation assisted electrocatalytic nitrate reduction

Abstract

Development of highly efficient electrocatalysts for selective electroreduction of nitrate is of great significance. In this work, the ultrathin intermetallic platinum-tellurium metallene (PtTe-ML) with atomic thickness is synthesized by simple liquid-phase chemical reduction. The introduction of Te atoms can sharply weaken the catalytic activity of Pt for the hydrogen evolution reaction. And, PtTe-ML exhibits superior catalytic activity for the nitrate reduction reaction (NO3−-ERR) than Pt black. In 0.5 M H2SO4 solution, PtTe-ML achieves an effective ammonia (NH3) production rate of 2.32 mg h−1 mgcat−1 and a Faradic efficiency of 95.5% at −0.04 V potential for NO3−-ERR. Meanwhile, the entry of Te atom isolates the continuous Pt active site and increases the proportion of the direct dehydrogenation pathway of the formic acid oxidation reaction (FAOR). Therefore, PtTe-ML also exhibits excellent FAOR activity due to the optimization of FAOR pathway. Then, anodic FAOR with low anodic oxidation potential is used to replace the oxygen evolution reaction with slow kinetic, so that the total electrolytic voltage of conventional electrochemical NH3 production can be effectively reduced. Consequently, the bifunctional PtTe-ML electrocatalyst requires only 0.4 V total voltage for FAOR assisted NH3 electroproduction. This work demonstrates a reaction coupling strategy to significantly improve the utilization rate of electric energy in electrochemical synthesis.

Metal–metalloid alloys: mesoporous Rh–Te films for electrocatalytic nitrogen fixation

“…On the other hand, the remaining peaks at 584.21 and 573.91 eV are associated with the Te(0) 3d 3/2 and Te(0) 3d 5/ 2 . 43,44 The XPS peaks of Te 3d have a positive shi compared with the standard Te. This opposite shi between Rh 3d and Te 3d orbitals demonstrates the formation of a strong electronic effect, which is favorable for the activation of nitrogen.…”

Engineering of Bimetallic Cu–Pt Nanostructures for the Electrochemical Ammonia Synthesis via Nitrate Reduction

“…It is worth noting that NO 3 RR performance of CuPt(3:1)@hydrogel nanostructures is much higher than several reported bimetallic electrocatalysts (Table S2). ,,,,,,,,− …”

In Situ Exsolution of Ba3(VO4)2 Nanoparticles on a V-Doped BaCoO3−δ Perovskite Oxide with Enhanced Activity for Electrocatalytic Hydrogen Evolution

“…Electrochemical water splitting offers an efficient and renewable technology to produce high-purity hydrogen without pollution. − However, the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) in alkaline media is sluggish due to an extra water-dissociation step. − Therefore, efficient electrocatalysts are required to improve the alkaline HER performance for hydrogen production. Platinum (Pt) is identified as the benchmark HER electrocatalyst due to its suitable Gibbs free energy for hydrogen adsorption (Δ G H* ≈ 0 eV). ,− However, the prohibitive cost and low reserves have greatly impeded the widespread commercialization of Pt. − Thus, searching for cost-effective and high-efficiency HER electrocatalysts is highly desirable.…”