Atomic Pt Embedded in BNC Nanotubes for Enhanced Electrochemical Ozone Production via an Oxygen Intermediate-Rich Local Environment

Bismuth Nanoparticles and Single Iron Atoms on Carbon Derived from a Covalent Organic Framework Synergistically Catalyze the Oxygen Reduction Reaction

The utilization of catalysts comprising metal nanoparticle has been beneficial for enhancing the performance of oxygen reduction reaction (ORR). However, the inadequate intrinsic activity of these catalysts still presents a significant challenge, limiting their overall effectiveness. This issue can be addressed by introducing single atoms, which can create a synergistic effect with the nanoparticles to catalyse and thereby improve performance. Nevertheless, the synergistic catalysis of nanoparticles and single atoms is still under investigation. In this study, we fabricated a core-shell structured carbon framework incorporating Fe single atoms and Bi nanoparticles through the pyrolysis of COF and MOF core-shell structures. Introducing Fe single atoms into ZIF-8, with Fe-ZIF-8 as the core and Bi-containing COF as the shell, resulted in higher ORR activity. The catalyst exhibited a half-wave potential of 0.867 V and a high current density of 6.68 mA cm-2 in 0.1 M KOH, which were comparable to those of Pt/C equivalent. This study provides new research concepts for exploring the application of single atoms and nanoparticles in catalytic oxygen reduction reactions through synergistic effects.

p-d Orbital Hybridization in Ag-based Electrocatalysts for Enhanced Nitrate-to-Ammonia Conversion

Considering the substantial role of ammonia, developing highly efficient electrocatalysts for nitrate-to-ammonia conversion has attracted increasing interest. Herein, we proposed a feasible strategy of p-d orbital hybridization via doping p-block metals in an Ag host, which drastically promotes the performance of nitrate adsorption and disassociation. Typically, a Sn-doped Ag catalyst (SnAg) delivers a maximum Faradaic efficiency (FE) of 95.5±1.85 % for NH3 at -0.4 V vs. RHE and reaches the highest NH3 yield rate to 482.3±14.1 mg h-1 mgcat. -1. In a flow cell, the SnAg catalyst achieves a FE of 90.2 % at an ampere-level current density of 1.1 A cm-2 with an NH3 yield of 78.6 mg h-1 cm-2, during which NH3 can be further extracted to prepare struvite as high-quality fertilizer. A mechanistic study reveals that a strong p-d orbital hybridization effect in SnAg is beneficial for nitrite deoxygenation, a rate-determining step for NH3 synthesis, which as a general principle, can be further extended to Bi- and In-doped Ag catalysts. Moreover, when integrated into a Zn-nitrate battery, such a SnAg cathode contributes to a superior energy density of 639 Wh L-1, high power density of 18.1 mW cm-2, and continuous NH3 production.

Electrochemical Restructuring Driven Catalytic Cycle of Bi-Based Heterojunctions for High-Performance Lithium-Sulfur Batteries

Restructuring is an important phenomenon in catalytic reactions. Conversion-type materials with suitable redox potential may undergo in situ electrochemically driven restructurings and induce highly active catalytic sites in a working lithium-sulfur battery. Herein, driven by the electrochemical conversion reaction of BiVO4, a reversible catalytic cycle of Bi/amorphous Li3VO4 (a-Li3VO4) and Bi2S3/a-Li3VO4 heterojunctions is constructed, which targets the oxidation of Li2S and the conversion of polysulfide, respectively. The heterostructures and electrochemically driven size confinement provide abundant sites for shuttle restraining and sulfur conversion. Especially, the p-block Bi and Bi2S3 could dramatically reduce the conversion energy barriers of Li2S and polysulfide by virtue of the p-p orbital hybridization, promoting bidirectional reactions of the sulfur cathode. As a result, the corresponding sulfur cathode possesses a high reversible capacity of 7.5 mAh cm-2 after 120 cycles under a high sulfur loading of 10.3 mg cm-2 with a current density of 0.38 mA cm-2. This study furnishes a feasible scheme to obtain highly effective catalysts for bidirectional sulfur redox by utilizing the electrochemically induced restructuring.

Vacancy-Enhanced Sb-N4 Sites for the Oxygen Reduction Reaction and Zn-Air Battery

With the advantages of a Fenton-inactive characteristic and unique p electrons that can hybridize with O2 molecules, p-block metal-based single-atom catalysts (SACs) for the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) have tremendous potential. Nevertheless, their undesirable intrinsic activity caused by the closed d10 electronic configuration remains a major challenge. Herein, an Sb-based SAC featuring carbon vacancy-enhanced Sb-N4 active centers, corroborated by the results of high-angle annular dark-field scanning transmission electron microscopy and X-ray absorption fine structure, has been developed for an incredibly effective ORR. The obtained SbSA-N-C demonstrates a positive half-wave potential of 0.905 V and excellent structural stability in alkaline environments. Density functional theory calculations reveal that the carbon vacancies weaken the adsorption between Sb atoms and the OH* intermediate, thus promoting the ORR performance. Practically, the SbSA-N-C-based Zn-air batteries achieve impressive outcomes, such as a high power density of 181 mW cm-2, showing great potential in real-world applications.

Triple signal-enhancing sandwich-type electrochemical immunosensor based on Au@SNHC and PtPdCu/BNC for detection of Cardiac Troponin I

A novel multiple amplification strategy for electrochemical immunoassay was developed elaborately. The realization of this strategy is based on the high efficiency catalysis of boron nitrogen double-doped carbon loaded trimetallic PtPdCu mulberry-like nanospheres (PtPdCu/BNC) and the satisfactory conductivity of gold nanoparticles modified with sulfur nitrogen co-doped hollow porous carbon (Au@SNHC). Single crystal anisotropic Pt octahedral seeds were synthesized with sodium citrate as shape-directing agent, and then three metals were grown in situ to prepare the trimetallic PtPdCu mulberry nanospheres, which had excellent utilization of atoms and a significant number of catalytic active centers. Boron nitrogen double-doped carbon (BNC) with abundant free electrons and high electron density micro-mesoporous can be used as the supported dispersion material of PtPdCu MBNSs, further catalytically enrich H2O2. Moreover, the etching vulcanization of small ZIF template and the co-doping of sulfur and nitrogen endow sulfur nitrogen co-doped hollow porous carbon (SNHC) with shorter the diffusion distance of charge carrier and lower mass transfer resistance. Under optimal conditions, the developed immunosensor exhibits good sensing performance with a detection limit of 4.27 fg⋅mL-1, and the wide linear dynamic range (10 fg⋅mL-1-100 ng⋅mL-1). This study provides a possible strategy for early diagnosis and postoperative monitoring of AMI.

Rational Modulation of Single Atom Coordination Microenvironments in a BCN Monolayer for Multifunctional Electrocatalysis

Single-atom (SA) catalysts (SACs) have demonstrated outstanding catalytic performances toward plenty of relevant electrochemical reactions. Nevertheless, controlling the coordination microenvironment of catalytically active SAs to further enhance their catalytic oerformences has remained elusive up to now. Herein, a systematic investigation of 20 transition metal atoms that are coordinated with 20 different microenvironments in a boroncarbon-nitride monolayer (BCN) is conducted using high-throughput density functional theory calculations. The experimentally synthesized ternary BCN monolayer contains carbon, nitrogen, and boron atoms in its 2D network, thus providing a lot of new coordination environments than those of the current Cx Ny nanoplatforms. By exploring the structural/electrochemical stability, catalytic activity, selectivity, and electronic properties of 400 (20 × 20) TM-BCN moieties, it is discovered that specific SA coordination environments can achieve superior stability and selectivity for different electrocatalytic reactions. Moreover, a universal descriptor to accelerate the experimental process toward the synthesis of BCN-SACs is reported. These findings not only provide useful guidance for the synthesis of efficient multifunctional BCN-SACs but also will immediately benefit researchers by levering up their understanding of the mechanistic effects of SA coordination microenvironments on electrocatalytic reactions.

Manipulating local coordination of copper single atom catalyst enables efficient CO2-to-CH4 conversion

Electrochemical CO2 conversion to methane, powered by intermittent renewable electricity, provides an entrancing opportunity to both store renewable electric energy and utilize emitted CO2. Copper-based single atom catalysts are promising candidates to restrain C-C coupling, suggesting feasibility in further protonation of CO* to CHO* for methane production. In theoretical studies herein, we find that introducing boron atoms into the first coordination layer of Cu-N4 motif facilitates the binding of CO* and CHO* intermediates, which favors the generation of methane. Accordingly, we employ a co-doping strategy to fabricate B-doped Cu-Nx atomic configuration (Cu-NxBy), where Cu-N2B2 is resolved to be the dominant site. Compared with Cu-N4 motifs, as-synthesized B-doped Cu-Nx structure exhibits a superior performance towards methane production, showing a peak methane Faradaic efficiency of 73% at -1.46 V vs. RHE and a maximum methane partial current density of -462 mA cm-2 at -1.94 V vs. RHE. Extensional calculations utilizing two-dimensional reaction phase diagram analysis together with barrier calculation help to gain more insights into the reaction mechanism of Cu-N2B2 coordination structure.

p-d Orbital Hybridization Induced by p-Block Metal-Doped Cu Promotes the Formation of C2+ Products in Ampere-Level CO2 Electroreduction

Large-current electrolysis of CO₂ to multi-carbon (C₂₊) products is critical to realize the industrial application of CO₂ conversion. However, the poor binding strength of *CO intermediates on the catalyst surface induces multiple competing pathways, which hinder the C₂₊ production. Herein, we report that p-d orbital hybridization induced by Ga-doped Cu (CuGa) could promote efficient CO₂ electrocatalysis to C₂₊ products at ampere-level current density. It was found that CuGa exhibited the highest C₂₊ productivity with a remarkable Faradaic efficiency (FE) of 81.5% at a current density of 0.9 A/cm², and the potential at such a high current density was -1.07 V versus reversible hydrogen electrode. At 1.1 A/cm², the catalyst still maintained a high C₂₊ productivity with an FE of 76.9%. Experimental and theoretical studies indicated that the excellent performance of CuGa results from the p-d hybridization of Cu and Ga, which not only enriches reactive sites but also enhances the binding strength of the *CO intermediate and facilitates C-C coupling. The p-d hybridization strategy can be extended to other p-block metal-doped Cu catalysts, such as CuAl and CuGe, to boost CO₂ electroreduction for C₂₊ production. As far as we know, this is the first work to promote electrochemical CO₂ reduction reaction to generate the C₂₊ product by p-d orbital hybridization interaction using a p-block metal-doped Cu catalyst.

P-Orbital Bismuth Single-Atom Catalyst for Highly Effective Oxygen Electroreduction in Quasi-Solid Zinc-Air Batteries

P-block metals have gradually been utilized to synthesize non-noble-metal catalysts for oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) due to the easily tunable localized p-orbitals and resulted versatile electronic structures. The high-density single-atom bismuth sites (Bi-NC) anchored onto nitrogen-doped three-dimensional porous carbon are proved to possess significant electrocatalytic ORR performance. Theoretical calculations unveil positively charged bismuth centers prominently improved the adsorption capacity of N-doped carbon to O₂ . The p orbitals of Bi sites within Bi-NC easily generate hybrid states with p orbitals of O₂ , thus promoting charge transfer and ultimately reducing the energy barrier of ORR. Benefiting from p-orbital electrons regulation of bismuth atoms, Bi-NC exhibit ORR half-wave potential of 0.86 V (vs RHE). Additionally, both liquid and quasi-solid zinc-air batteries with Bi-NC as air-cathodes achieve higher power density and specific capacity than 20 wt% Pt/C, and comparable stability and round-trip efficiency with 20 wt% Pt/C. The discovery sheds light on the theoretical and practical guidance for p-block metallic single-atom catalysts.

Advances on removal of organophosphorus pesticides with electrochemical technology

Widespread use of organophosphorus pesticides (OPs), especially superfluous and unreasonable use, had brought huge harm to the environment and food chain. It is because only a small part of the pesticides sprayed reached the target, and the rest slid across the soil, causing pollution of groundwater and surface water resources. These pesticides accumulate in the environment, causing environmental pollution. Therefore, in recent years, the control and degradation of OPs have become a public spotlight and research hotspot. Due to its unique advantages such as versatility, environmental compatibility, controllability, and cost-effectiveness compatibility, electrochemical technology has become one of the most promising methods for degradation of OPs. The fundamental knowledge about electrochemical degradation on OPs was introduced in this review. Then, a comprehensive overview of four main types of practical electrochemical technologies to degrade pesticides were presented and evaluated. The knowledge contained herein should conduce to better understand the degradation of pesticides by electrochemical technology, and better exploit the degradation of pesticides in the environment and food. Overall, the objective of this review is to provide comprehensive guidance for rational design and application of electrochemical technology in the degradation of OPs for the safety of the environment and food chain in the future.

The active structure of p-block SnNC single-atom electrocatalysts for the oxygen reduction reaction

The active structure and activity origin of intriguing SnNC single-atom catalysts in the oxygen reduction reaction are rationalized by theoretical simulations.

P-Block Atomically Dispersed Antimony Catalyst for Highly Efficient Oxygen Reduction Reaction

Main-group (s- and p-block) metals are generally regarded as catalytically inactive due to the delocalized s/p-band. Herein, we successfully synthesized a p-block antimony single-atom catalyst (Sb SAC) with the Sb-N₄ configuration for efficient catalysis of the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR). The obtained Sb SAC exhibits superior ORR activity with a half-wave potential of 0.86 V and excellent stability, which outperforms most transition-metal (TM, d-block) based SACs and commercial Pt/C. In addition, it presents an excellent power density of 184.6 mW cm^-2 and a high specific capacity (803.5 mAh g^-1 ) in Zn-air battery. Both experiment and theoretical calculation manifest that the active catalytic sites are positively charged Sb-N₄ single-metal sites, which have closed d shells. Density of states (DOS) results unveil the p orbital of the atomically dispersed Sb cation in Sb SAC can easily interact with O₂ -p orbital to form hybrid states, facilitating the charge transfer and generating appropriate adsorption strength for oxygen intermediates, lowering the energy barrier and modulating the rate-determining step. This work sheds light on the atomic-level preparing p-block Sb metal catalyst for highly active ORR, and further provides valuable guidelines for the rational design of other main-group-metal SACs.