Electrocatalytic Behavior of Hydrogenated Pd-Metallic Glass Nanofilms: Butler-Volmer, Tafel, and Impedance Analyses

Tungsten-Iron-Ruthenium Ternary Alloy Immobilized into the Inner Nickel Foam for High-Current-Density Water Oxidation

The pursuit of highly-active and stable catalysts in anodic oxygen evolution reaction (OER) is desirable for high-current-density water electrolysis toward industrial hydrogen production. Herein, a straightforward yet feasible method to prepare WFeRu ternary alloying catalyst on nickel foam is demonstrated, whereby the foreign W, Fe, and Ru metal atoms diffuse into the Ni foam resulting in the formation of inner immobilized ternary alloy. Thanks to the synergistic impact of foreign metal atoms and structural robustness of inner immobilized alloying catalyst, the well-designed WFeRu@NF self-standing anode exhibits superior OER activities. It only requires overpotentials of 245 and 346 mV to attain current densities of 20 and 500 mA cm-2, respectively. Moreover, the as-prepared ternary alloying catalyst also exhibits a long-term stability at a high-current-density of 500 mA cm-2 for over 45 h, evidencing the inner-immobilization strategy is promising for the development of highly active and stable metal-based catalysts for high-density-current water oxidation process.

Intercalated PtCo Electrocatalyst of Vanadium Metal Oxide Increases Charge Density to Facilitate Hydrogen Evolution

Efforts to develop high-performance electrocatalysts for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) are of utmost importance in ensuring sustainable hydrogen production. The controllable fabrication of inexpensive, durable, and high-efficient HER catalysts still remains a great challenge. Herein, we introduce a universal strategy aiming to achieve rapid synthesis of highly active hydrogen evolution catalysts using a controllable hydrogen insertion method and solvothermal process. Hydrogen vanadium bronze HxV2O5 was obtained through controlling the ethanol reaction rate in the oxidization process of hydrogen peroxide. Subsequently, the intermetallic PtCoVO supported on two-dimensional graphitic carbon nitride (g-C3N4) nanosheets was prepared by a solvothermal method at the oil/water interface. In terms of HER performance, PtCoVO/g-C3N4 demonstrates superior characteristics compared to PtCo/g-C3N4 and PtCoV/g-C3N4. This superiority can be attributed to the notable influence of oxygen vacancies in HxV2O5 on the electrical properties of the catalyst. By adjusting the relative proportions of metal atoms in the PtCoVO/g-C3N4 nanomaterials, the PtCoVO/g-C3N4 nanocomposites show significant HER overpotential of η10 = 92 mV, a Tafel slope of 65.21 mV dec-1, and outstanding stability (a continuous test lasting 48 h). The nanoarchitecture of a g-C3N4-supported PtCoVO nanoalloy catalyst exhibits exceptional resistance to nanoparticle migration and corrosion, owing to the strong interaction between the metal nanoparticles and the g-C3N4 support. Pt, Co, and V simultaneous doping has been shown by Density Functional Theory (DFT) calculations to enhance the density of states (DOS) at the Fermi level. This augmentation leads to a higher charge density and a reduction in the adsorption energy of intermediates.

Microstructure and corrosion behavior of Al95−xNixY5 (x = 7,10) glassy ribbons

In this work, we correlate the microstructure and passivation of the Al_95−xNi_xY₅ lightweight glassy ribbons (x = 7 and 10) using various techniques. The overdosed Ni (x = 10) can increase the melt viscosity and then deteriorate its glass-forming ability (GFA), ribbon formability, and Y-depleted extra layer formation. Consequently, the overdosed Ni weakens the passivation stability and corrosion resistance of the as-spun ribbon. The key role of the overdosed Ni can form a strong network and crystalline grain boundary in the amorphous matrix, which can transport Y and O to participate in the oxidation. These results can help us explore a valuable method for designing new Al-based metallic glasses.

The Al_95−xNi_xY₅ ribbon x = 7 has a Y-depleted extra film and has a longer passive zone in the polarization curve and higher corrosion resistance than x = 10.

Enhancement of Interfacial Hydrogen Interactions with Nanoporous Gold-Containing Metallic Glass

Contrary to the electrochemical energy storage in Pd nanofilms challenged by diffusion limitations, extensive metal-hydrogen interactions in Pd-based metallic glasses result from their grain-free structure and presence of free volume. This contribution investigates the kinetics of hydrogen-metal interactions in gold-containing Pd-based metallic glass (MG) and crystalline Pd nanofilms for two different pore architectures and nonporous substrates. Fully amorphous MGs obtained by physical vapor deposition (PVD) co-sputtering are electrochemically hydrogenated by chronoamperometry. High-resolution (scanning) transmission electron microscopy and corresponding energy-dispersive X-ray analysis after hydrogenation corroborate the existence of several nanometer-sized crystals homogeneously dispersed throughout the matrix. These nanocrystals are induced by PdH_x formation, which was confirmed by depth-resolved X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, indicating an oxide-free inner layer of the nanofilm. With a larger pore diameter and spacing in the substrate (Pore40), the MG attains a frequency-independent impedance at low frequencies (∼500 Hz) with very high Bode magnitude stability accounting for enhanced ionic diffusion. On the contrary, on a substrate with a smaller pore diameter and spacing (Pore25), the MG shows a larger low-frequency (0.1 Hz) capacitance, linked to enhanced ionic transfer in the near-DC region. Hence, the nanoporosity of amorphous and crystalline metallic materials can be systematically adjusted depending on AC- and DC-type applications.

Origin of Electrocatalytic Activity in Amorphous Nickel-Metalloid Electrodeposits

In transition metal-based alloys, the nonlinearity of the current at large cathodic potentials reduces the credibility of the linear Tafel slopes for the evaluation of electrocatalytic hydrogen activity. High-precision nonlinear fitting at low current densities describing the kinetics of electrochemical reactions due to charge transfer can overcome this challenge. To show its effectiveness, we introduce a glassy alloy with a highly asymmetric energy barrier: amorphous NiP electrocoatings (with different C and O inclusions) via changing the applied DC and pulsed current and NaH₂PO₂ content. The highest hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) activity with the lowest cathodic transfer coefficient α = 0.130 with high J₀ = -1.07 mA cm^-2 and the largest surface areas without any porosity are observed for the pulsed current deposition. The calculated α has a direct relation with morphology, composition, chemical state and coating thickness defined by the electrodeposition conditions. Here, a general evaluation criterion with practicality in assessment and high accuracy for electrocatalytic reactions applicable to different metallic alloy systems is presented.

Effective electrocatalytic methanol oxidation of Pd-based metallic glass nanofilms

Compared to their conventional polycrystalline Pd counterparts, Pd79Au9Si12 (at%) - metallic glass (MG) nanofilm (NF) electrocatalysts offer better methanol oxidation reaction (MOR) in alkaline medium, CO poisoning tolerance and catalyst stability even at high scan rates or high methanol concentrations owing to their amorphous structure without grain boundaries. This study evaluates the influence of scan rate and methanol concentration by cyclic voltammetry, frequency-dependent electrochemical impedance spectroscopy and a related equivalent circuit model at different potentials in Pd-Au-Si amorphous NFs. Structural and compositional differences for the NFs are assessed by high-angle annular dark-field scanning transmission electron microscopy (HAADF-STEM), energy dispersive X-ray (EDX) mapping and X-ray diffraction (XRD). The ratio of the forward to reverse peak current density ipf/ipb for the MG NFs is ∼2.2 times higher than for polycrystalline Pd NFs, evidencing better oxidation of methanol to carbon dioxide in the forward scan and less poisoning of the electrocatalysts by carbonaceous (e.g. CO, HCO) species. Moreover, the electrochemical circuit model obtained from EIS measurements reveals that the MOR occurring around -100 mV increases the capacitance without any significant change in oxidation resistance, whereas CO2 formation towards lower potentials results in a sharp increase in the capacitance of the Faradaic MOR at the catalyst interface and a slight decrease in the corresponding resistance. These results, together with the high ipf/ipb = 3.37 yielding the minimum amount of carbonaceous species deposited on the thin film during cyclic voltammetry and stability in the alkaline environment, can potentially make these amorphous thin films potential candidates for fuel-cell applications.

Metallic Glass Films with Nanostructured Periodic Density Fluctuations Supported on Si/SiO2 as an Efficient Hydrogen Sorber

Nanostructured metallic glass films (NMGF) can exhibit surface and intrinsic effects that give rise to unique physical and chemical properties. Here, a facile synthesis and electrochemical, structural, and morphologic characterization of Pd-Au-Si based MGs of approximately 50 nm thickness supported on Si/SiO₂ is reported. Impressively, the maximum total hydrogen charge stored in the Pd-Au-Si nanofilm is equal to that in polycrystalline Pd films with 1 μm thickness in 0.1 m H₂ SO₄ electrolyte. The same NMGF has a volumetric desorption charge that is more than eight times and 25 % higher than that of polycrystalline PdNF and Pd-Cu-Si NMGF with the same thickness supported on Si/SiO₂ , respectively. A significant number of nanovoids originating from PdH_x crystals, and an increase in the average interatomic spacing is detected in Pd-Au-Si NMGF by high-resolution TEM. Such a high amount of hydrogen sorption is linked to the unique density fluctuations without any chemical segregation exclusively observed for this NMGF.

Hydrogen storage performance of the multi-principal-component CoFeMnTiVZr alloy in electrochemical and gas–solid reactions

The single-phase multi-principal-component CoFeMnTiVZr alloy was obtained by rapid solidification and examined by a combination of electrochemical methods and gas–solid reactions. X-ray diffraction and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy analyses reveal a hexagonal Laves-phase structure (type C14). Cyclic voltammetry and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy investigations in the hydrogen absorption/desorption region give insight into the absorption/desorption kinetics and the change in the desorption charge in terms of the applied potential. The thickness of the hydrogen absorption layer obtained by the electrochemical reaction is estimated by high-resolution transmission electron microscopy. The electrochemical hydrogen storage capacity for a given applied voltage is calculated from a series of chronoamperometry and cyclic voltammetry measurements. The selected alloy exhibits good stability for reversible hydrogen absorption and demonstrates a maximum hydrogen capacity of ∼1.9 wt% at room temperature. The amount of hydrogen absorbed in the gas–solid reaction reaches 1.7 wt% at 298 K and 5 MPa, evidencing a good correlation with the electrochemical results.

The single-phase multi-principal-component CoFeMnTiVZr alloy was obtained by rapid solidification and examined by a combination of electrochemical methods and gas–solid reactions.