1
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Jeong Y, Kim Y, Kim YJ, Park JY. In Situ Probing of CO 2 Reduction on Cu-Phthalocyanine-Derived Cu x O Complex. ADVANCED SCIENCE (WEINHEIM, BADEN-WURTTEMBERG, GERMANY) 2024; 11:e2304735. [PMID: 38030415 PMCID: PMC10811478 DOI: 10.1002/advs.202304735] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/13/2023] [Revised: 10/24/2023] [Indexed: 12/01/2023]
Abstract
An in situ measurement of a CO2 reduction reaction (CO2 RR) in Cu-phthalocyanine (CuPC) molecules adsorbed on an Au(111) surface is performed using electrochemical scanning tunneling microscopy. One intriguing phenomenon monitored in situ during CO2 RR is that a well-ordered CuPC adlayer is formed into an unsuspected nanocluster via molecular restructuring. At an electrode potential of -0.7 V versus Ag/AgCl, the Au surface is covered mainly with the clusters, showing restructuring-induced CO2 RR catalytic activity. Using a measurement of X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, it is revealed that the nanocluster represents a Cu complex with its formation mechanism. This work provides an in situ observation of the restructuring of the electrocatalyst to understand the surface-reactive correlations and suggests the CO2 RR catalyst works at a relatively low potential using the CuPC-derived Cu nanoclusters as active species.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yongchan Jeong
- Center for Nanomaterials and Chemical ReactionsInstitute for Basic Science (IBS)55, Expo‐ro, Yuseong‐guDaejeon34126Republic of Korea
| | - Yongman Kim
- Center for Nanomaterials and Chemical ReactionsInstitute for Basic Science (IBS)55, Expo‐ro, Yuseong‐guDaejeon34126Republic of Korea
- Department of ChemistryKorea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST)291 Daehak‐ro, Yuseong‐guDaejeon34141Republic of Korea
| | - Young Jae Kim
- Center for Nanomaterials and Chemical ReactionsInstitute for Basic Science (IBS)55, Expo‐ro, Yuseong‐guDaejeon34126Republic of Korea
- Department of ChemistryKorea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST)291 Daehak‐ro, Yuseong‐guDaejeon34141Republic of Korea
| | - Jeong Young Park
- Center for Nanomaterials and Chemical ReactionsInstitute for Basic Science (IBS)55, Expo‐ro, Yuseong‐guDaejeon34126Republic of Korea
- Department of ChemistryKorea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST)291 Daehak‐ro, Yuseong‐guDaejeon34141Republic of Korea
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2
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Wang X, Yi ZY, Wang YQ, Wang D, Wan LJ. Unraveling the Dynamic Processes of Methanol Electrooxidation at Isolated Rhodium Sites by In Situ Electrochemical Scanning Tunneling Microscopy. J Phys Chem Lett 2023; 14:9448-9455. [PMID: 37830902 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpclett.3c02514] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/14/2023]
Abstract
Materials with isolated single-atom Rh-N4 sites are emerging as promising and compelling catalysts for methanol electrooxidation. Herein, we carried out an in situ electrochemical scanning tunneling microscopy (ECSTM) investigation of the dynamic processes of methanol absorption and catalytic conversion in the rhodium octaethylporphyrin (RhOEP)-catalyzed methanol oxidation reaction at the molecular scale. The high-contrast RhOEP-CH3OH complex formed by methanol adsorption was visualized distinctly in the STM images. The Rh-C adsorption configuration of methanol on isolated rhodium sites was identified on the basis of a series of control experiments and theoretical simulation. The adsorption energy of methanol on RhOEP was obtained from quantitative analysis. In situ ECSTM experiments present an explicit description of the transformation of the intermediate species in the catalytic process. By qualitatively evaluating the rate constants of different stages in the reaction at the microscopic level, we considered the CO transformation/desorption as the critical step for determining the reaction dynamics. Methanol adsorption was found to be correlated with RhOEP oxidation in the initial stage of the reaction, and the dynamic information was revealed unambiguously by in situ potential step experiments. This work provides microscopic results for the catalytic mechanism of Rh-N4 sites for methanol electrooxidation, which is instructive for the rational design of the high-performance catalyst.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiang Wang
- CAS Key Laboratory of Molecular Nanostructure and Nanotechnology, CAS Research/Education Center for Excellence in Molecular Sciences, Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Science (BNLMS), Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China
| | - Zhen-Yu Yi
- CAS Key Laboratory of Molecular Nanostructure and Nanotechnology, CAS Research/Education Center for Excellence in Molecular Sciences, Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Science (BNLMS), Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
| | - Yu-Qi Wang
- CAS Key Laboratory of Molecular Nanostructure and Nanotechnology, CAS Research/Education Center for Excellence in Molecular Sciences, Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Science (BNLMS), Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
| | - Dong Wang
- CAS Key Laboratory of Molecular Nanostructure and Nanotechnology, CAS Research/Education Center for Excellence in Molecular Sciences, Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Science (BNLMS), Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
| | - Li-Jun Wan
- CAS Key Laboratory of Molecular Nanostructure and Nanotechnology, CAS Research/Education Center for Excellence in Molecular Sciences, Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Science (BNLMS), Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
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3
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Fe-N-C catalysts decorated with oxygen vacancies-rich CeO x to increase oxygen reduction performance for Zn-air batteries. J Colloid Interface Sci 2023; 637:10-19. [PMID: 36682114 DOI: 10.1016/j.jcis.2023.01.057] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/05/2022] [Revised: 01/10/2023] [Accepted: 01/11/2023] [Indexed: 01/18/2023]
Abstract
Platinum group metal (PGM)-free catalysts represented by nitrogen and iron co-doped carbon (Fe-N-C) catalysts are desirable and critical for metal-air batteries, but challenges still exist in performance and stability. Here, cerium oxides (CeOx) are incorporated into a two-dimensional Fe-N-C catalyst (FeNC-Ce-950) via a host-guest strategy. The Ce4+/Ce3+ redox system creates a large number of oxygen vacancies for rapid O2 adsorption to accelerate the kinetics of oxygen reduction reaction (ORR). Consequently, the as-synthesized FeNC-Ce-950 catalyst exhibits a half-wave potential (E1/2) of 0.921 V and negligible decay (<2 mV for ΔE1/2) after 5,000 accelerated durability cycles, significantly outperforming most of ORR catalysts reported in recent years and precious metal counterparts. When applied in a zinc-air battery, it demonstrates a peak power density of 175 mW cm-2 and a specific capacity of 757 mAh gZn-1. This study also provides a reference for the exploration of Fe-N-C catalysts decorated with variable valence metal oxides.
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4
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Mazzucato M, Gavioli L, Balzano V, Berretti E, Rizzi GA, Badocco D, Pastore P, Zitolo A, Durante C. Synergistic Effect of Sn and Fe in Fe-N x Site Formation and Activity in Fe-N-C Catalyst for ORR. ACS APPLIED MATERIALS & INTERFACES 2022; 14:54635-54648. [PMID: 36468946 PMCID: PMC9756292 DOI: 10.1021/acsami.2c13837] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/02/2022] [Accepted: 11/22/2022] [Indexed: 06/17/2023]
Abstract
Iron-nitrogen-carbon (Fe-N-C) materials emerged as one of the best non-platinum group material (non-PGM) alternatives to Pt/C catalysts for the electrochemical reduction of O2 in fuel cells. Co-doping with a secondary metal center is a possible choice to further enhance the activity toward oxygen reduction reaction (ORR). Here, classical Fe-N-C materials were co-doped with Sn as a secondary metal center. Sn-N-C according to the literature shows excellent activity, in particular in the fuel cell setup; here, the same catalyst shows a non-negligible activity in 0.5 M H2SO4 electrolyte but not as high as expected, meaning the different and uncertain nature of active sites. On the other hand, in mixed Fe, Sn-N-C catalysts, the presence of Sn improves the catalytic activity that is linked to a higher Fe-N4 site density, whereas the possible synergistic interaction of Fe-N4 and Sn-Nx found no confirmation. The presence of Fe-N4 and Sn-Nx was thoroughly determined by extended X-ray absorption fine structure and NO stripping technique; furthermore, besides the typical voltammetric technique, the catalytic activity of Fe-N-C catalyst was determined and also compared with that of the gas diffusion electrode (GDE), which allows a fast and reliable screening for possible implementation in a full cell. This paper therefore explores the effect of Sn on the formation, activity, and selectivity of Fe-N-C catalysts in both acid and alkaline media by tuning the Sn/Fe ratio in the synthetic procedure, with the ratio 1/2 showing the best activity, even higher than that of the iron-only containing sample (jk = 2.11 vs 1.83 A g-1). Pt-free materials are also tested for ORR in GDE setup in both performance and durability tests.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marco Mazzucato
- Department
of Chemical Sciences, University of Padova, Via Marzolo 1, 35131Padova, Italy
| | - Luca Gavioli
- i-LAMP
& Department of Mathematics and Physics, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Via della Garzetta 46, 25133Brescia, Italy
| | - Vincenzo Balzano
- i-LAMP
& Department of Mathematics and Physics, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Via della Garzetta 46, 25133Brescia, Italy
| | - Enrico Berretti
- Institute
of Chemistry of Organometallic Compounds (ICCOM)—National Research
Council (CNR), Via Madonna
del Piano 10, 50019Sesto Fiorentino, Italy
| | - Gian Andrea Rizzi
- Department
of Chemical Sciences, University of Padova, Via Marzolo 1, 35131Padova, Italy
| | - Denis Badocco
- Department
of Chemical Sciences, University of Padova, Via Marzolo 1, 35131Padova, Italy
| | - Paolo Pastore
- Department
of Chemical Sciences, University of Padova, Via Marzolo 1, 35131Padova, Italy
| | - Andrea Zitolo
- Synchrotron
SOLEIL, L’Orme des Merisiers, BP 48 Saint Aubin, 91192Gif-sur-Yvette, France
| | - Christian Durante
- Department
of Chemical Sciences, University of Padova, Via Marzolo 1, 35131Padova, Italy
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Feng YC, Wang X, Yi ZY, Wang YQ, Yan HJ, Wang D. In-situ ECSTM investigation of H2O2 production in cobalt—porphyrin-catalyzed oxygen reduction reaction. Sci China Chem 2022. [DOI: 10.1007/s11426-022-1465-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
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6
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Zheng W, Lee LYS. Observing Electrocatalytic Processes via In Situ Electrochemical Scanning Tunneling Microscopy: Latest Advances. Chem Asian J 2022; 17:e202200384. [PMID: 35621190 DOI: 10.1002/asia.202200384] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/12/2022] [Revised: 05/25/2022] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Abstract
Electrocatalysis is the foundation of many techniques that are currently used to address both environmental and energy problems. Therefore, understanding electrocatalytic processes is essential to guide the rational design of electrocatalysts. Scanning tunneling microscopy (STM), which was developed in the 1980s, remains one of the few techniques that allow surface imaging at the atomic level, making it incredibly useful in electrocatalytic research. In this review, we introduced the basic concept and latest applications of the STM technique for in situ studies of electrocatalytic processes, particularly its capability in analyzing species adsorption/desorption, surface reconstruction, active site identification, and electrocatalyst dissolution, as well as its advantages and limitations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Weiran Zheng
- The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Department of Applied Biology and Chemical Technology, HONG KONG
| | - Lawrence Yoon Suk Lee
- The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Department of Applied Biology and Chemical Technology, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, ., Hung Hom, HONG KONG
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Hua Q, Madsen KE, Esposito AM, Chen X, Woods TJ, Haasch RT, Xiang S, Frenkel AI, Fister TT, Gewirth AA. Effect of Support on Oxygen Reduction Reaction Activity of Supported Iron Porphyrins. ACS Catal 2022. [DOI: 10.1021/acscatal.1c04871] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/30/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Qi Hua
- Department of Chemistry, University of Illinois at Urbana−Champaign, Urbana, Illinois 61801, United States
| | - Kenneth E. Madsen
- Department of Chemistry, University of Illinois at Urbana−Champaign, Urbana, Illinois 61801, United States
| | - Anne Marie Esposito
- Department of Chemistry, University of Illinois at Urbana−Champaign, Urbana, Illinois 61801, United States
| | - Xinyi Chen
- Department of Chemistry, University of Illinois at Urbana−Champaign, Urbana, Illinois 61801, United States
| | - Toby J. Woods
- Department of Chemistry, University of Illinois at Urbana−Champaign, Urbana, Illinois 61801, United States
| | - Richard T. Haasch
- Frederick Seitz Materials Research Laboratory, University of Illinois at Urbana−Champaign, Urbana, Illinois 61801, United States
| | - Shuting Xiang
- Department of Materials Science and Chemical Engineering, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, New York 11794, United States
| | - Anatoly I. Frenkel
- Department of Materials Science and Chemical Engineering, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, New York 11794, United States
- Division of Chemistry, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, New York 11973, United States
| | - Timothy T. Fister
- Chemical Sciences and Engineering Division, Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, Illinois 60439, United States
| | - Andrew A. Gewirth
- Department of Chemistry, University of Illinois at Urbana−Champaign, Urbana, Illinois 61801, United States
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8
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Kosmala T, Baby A, Lunardon M, Perilli D, Liu H, Durante C, Di Valentin C, Agnoli S, Granozzi G. Operando visualization of the hydrogen evolution reaction with atomic-scale precision at different metal–graphene interfaces. Nat Catal 2021. [DOI: 10.1038/s41929-021-00682-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/08/2023]
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9
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Daniel G, Mazzucato M, Brandiele R, De Lazzari L, Badocco D, Pastore P, Kosmala T, Granozzi G, Durante C. Sulfur Doping versus Hierarchical Pore Structure: The Dominating Effect on the Fe-N-C Site Density, Activity, and Selectivity in Oxygen Reduction Reaction Electrocatalysis. ACS APPLIED MATERIALS & INTERFACES 2021; 13:42693-42705. [PMID: 34468127 PMCID: PMC8447183 DOI: 10.1021/acsami.1c09659] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/25/2021] [Accepted: 07/30/2021] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
Nitrogen doping has been always regarded as one of the major factors responsible for the increased catalytic activity of Fe-N-C catalysts in the oxygen reduction reaction, and recently, sulfur has emerged as a co-doping element capable of increasing the catalytic activity even more because of electronic effects, which modify the d-band center of the Fe-N-C catalysts or because of its capability to increase the Fe-Nx site density (SD). Herein, we investigate in detail the effect of sulfur doping of carbon support on the Fe-Nx site formation and on the textural properties (micro- and mesopore surface area and volume) in the resulting Fe-N-C catalysts. The Fe-N-C catalysts were prepared from mesoporous carbon with tunable sulfur doping (0-16 wt %), which was achieved by the modulation of the relative amount of sucrose/dibenzothiophene precursors. The carbon with the highest sulfur content was also activated through steam treatment at 800 °C for different durations, which allowed us to modulate the carbon pore volume and surface area (1296-1726 m2 g-1). The resulting catalysts were tested in O2-saturated 0.5 M H2SO4 electrolyte, and the site density (SD) was determined using the NO-stripping technique. Here, we demonstrate that sulfur doping has a porogenic effect increasing the microporosity of the carbon support, and it also facilitates the nitrogen fixation on the carbon support as well as the formation of Fe-Nx sites. It was found that the Fe-N-C catalytic activity [E1/2 ranges between 0.609 and 0.731 V vs reversible hydrogen electrode (RHE)] does not directly depend on sulfur content, but rather on the microporous surface and therefore any electronic effect appears not to be determinant as confirmed by X-ray photoemission spectroscopy (XPS). The graph reporting Fe-Nx SD versus sulfur content assumes a volcano-like shape, where the maximum value is obtained for a sulfur/iron ratio close to 18, i.e., a too high or too low sulfur doping has a detrimental effect on Fe-Nx formation. However, it was highlighted that the increase of Fe-Nx SD is a necessary but not sufficient condition for increasing the catalytic activity of the material, unless the textural properties are also optimized, i.e., there must be an optimized hierarchical porosity that facilitates the mass transport to the active sites.
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Facchin A, Zerbetto M, Gennaro A, Vittadini A, Forrer D, Durante C. Oxygen Reduction Reaction at Single‐Site Catalysts: A Combined Electrochemical Scanning Tunnelling Microscopy and DFT Investigation on Iron Octaethylporphyrin Chloride on HOPG**. ChemElectroChem 2021. [DOI: 10.1002/celc.202100543] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/07/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Alessandro Facchin
- Department of Chemical Sciences University of Padova via Marzolo 1 35131 Padova Italy
| | - Mirco Zerbetto
- Department of Chemical Sciences University of Padova via Marzolo 1 35131 Padova Italy
| | - Armando Gennaro
- Department of Chemical Sciences University of Padova via Marzolo 1 35131 Padova Italy
| | - Andrea Vittadini
- Department of Chemical Sciences University of Padova via Marzolo 1 35131 Padova Italy
- Istituto di Chimica della Materia Condensata e di Tecnologie per l'Energia ICMATE-CNR via Marzolo 1 I-35131 Padova Italy
| | - Daniel Forrer
- Department of Chemical Sciences University of Padova via Marzolo 1 35131 Padova Italy
- Istituto di Chimica della Materia Condensata e di Tecnologie per l'Energia ICMATE-CNR via Marzolo 1 I-35131 Padova Italy
| | - Christian Durante
- Department of Chemical Sciences University of Padova via Marzolo 1 35131 Padova Italy
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Wang Y, Cui X, Peng L, Li L, Qiao J, Huang H, Shi J. Metal-Nitrogen-Carbon Catalysts of Specifically Coordinated Configurations toward Typical Electrochemical Redox Reactions. ADVANCED MATERIALS (DEERFIELD BEACH, FLA.) 2021; 33:e2100997. [PMID: 34218474 DOI: 10.1002/adma.202100997] [Citation(s) in RCA: 33] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/05/2021] [Revised: 04/02/2021] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
Metal-nitrogen-carbon (M-N-C) material with specifically coordinated configurations is a promising alternative to costly Pt-based catalysts. In the past few years, great progress is made in the studies of M-N-C materials, including the structure modulation and local coordination environment identification via advanced synthetic strategies and characterization techniques, which boost the electrocatalytic performances and deepen the understanding of the underlying fundamentals. In this review, the most recent advances of M-N-C catalysts with specifically coordinated configurations of M-Nx (x = 1-6) are summarized as comprehensively as possible, with an emphasis on the synthetic strategy, characterization techniques, and applications in typical electrocatalytic reactions of the oxygen reduction reaction, oxygen evolution reaction, hydrogen evolution reaction, CO2 reduction reaction, etc., along with mechanistic exploration by experiments and theoretical calculations. Furthermore, the challenges and potential perspectives for the future development of M-N-C catalysts are discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yongxia Wang
- State Key Laboratory for Modification of Chemical Fibers and Polymer Materials, College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Donghua University, 2999 Ren'min North Road, Shanghai, 201620, China
| | - Xiangzhi Cui
- State Key Lab of High Performance Ceramics and Superfine Microstructure, Shanghai Institute of Ceramics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 1295 Dingxi Road, Shanghai, 200050, China
- School of Chemistry and Materials Science, Hangzhou Institute for Advanced Study, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hangzhou, 310024, P. R. China
| | - Luwei Peng
- State Key Laboratory for Modification of Chemical Fibers and Polymer Materials, College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Donghua University, 2999 Ren'min North Road, Shanghai, 201620, China
| | - Lulu Li
- State Key Laboratory for Modification of Chemical Fibers and Polymer Materials, College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Donghua University, 2999 Ren'min North Road, Shanghai, 201620, China
| | - Jinli Qiao
- State Key Laboratory for Modification of Chemical Fibers and Polymer Materials, College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Donghua University, 2999 Ren'min North Road, Shanghai, 201620, China
- Shanghai Institute of Pollution Control and Ecological Security, 1515 North Zhongshan Road, Shanghai, 200092, China
| | - Haitao Huang
- Department of Applied Physics, Hong Kong Polytechnic University, 11 Yucai road, Kowloon, Hong Kong, 999077, China
| | - Jianlin Shi
- State Key Lab of High Performance Ceramics and Superfine Microstructure, Shanghai Institute of Ceramics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 1295 Dingxi Road, Shanghai, 200050, China
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12
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Wang X, Wang YQ, Feng YC, Wang D, Wan LJ. Insights into electrocatalysis by scanning tunnelling microscopy. Chem Soc Rev 2021; 50:5832-5849. [PMID: 34027957 DOI: 10.1039/d0cs01078b] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/21/2022]
Abstract
Understanding the mechanism of electrocatalytic reaction is important for the design and development of highly efficient electrocatalysts for energy technology. Investigating the surface structures of electrocatalysts and the surface processes in electrocatalytic reactions at the atomic and molecular scale is helpful to identify the catalytic role of active sites and further promotes the development of emerging electrocatalysts. Since it was invented, scanning tunnelling microscopy (STM) has become a powerful technique to investigate surface topographies and electronic properties at the nanoscale resolution. STM can be operated in diversified environments. Electrochemical STM can be used to investigate the surface processes during electrochemical reactions. Moreover, the critical intermediates in catalysis on catalyst surfaces can be identified by STM at low temperature or ultrahigh vacuum. STM has been extensively utilized in electrocatalysis research, including the structure-activity relationship of electrocatalysts, the distribution of active sites, and surface processes in electrocatalytic reactions. In this review, progress in the application of STM in electrocatalysis is systematically discussed. The construction of model electrocatalysts and electrocatalytic systems are summarized. Then, we present the STM investigation of electrocatalyst structures and surface processes related to electrocatalysis. Challenges and future developments in the field are discussed in the outlook.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiang Wang
- CAS Key Laboratory of Molecular Nanostructure and Nanotechnology, CAS Research/Education Center for Excellence in Molecular Sciences, Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Science (BNLMS), Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China. and University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
| | - Yu-Qi Wang
- CAS Key Laboratory of Molecular Nanostructure and Nanotechnology, CAS Research/Education Center for Excellence in Molecular Sciences, Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Science (BNLMS), Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China. and University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
| | - Ya-Chen Feng
- CAS Key Laboratory of Molecular Nanostructure and Nanotechnology, CAS Research/Education Center for Excellence in Molecular Sciences, Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Science (BNLMS), Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China. and University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
| | - Dong Wang
- CAS Key Laboratory of Molecular Nanostructure and Nanotechnology, CAS Research/Education Center for Excellence in Molecular Sciences, Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Science (BNLMS), Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China. and University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
| | - Li-Jun Wan
- CAS Key Laboratory of Molecular Nanostructure and Nanotechnology, CAS Research/Education Center for Excellence in Molecular Sciences, Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Science (BNLMS), Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China. and University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
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13
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Upcycling of polyurethane into iron-nitrogen-carbon electrocatalysts active for oxygen reduction reaction. Electrochim Acta 2020. [DOI: 10.1016/j.electacta.2020.137200] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/20/2022]
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