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Chen J, Guo S, Wang L, Liu S, Wang H, Zhao Q. Atomic Molybdenum Nanomaterials for Electrocatalysis. SMALL (WEINHEIM AN DER BERGSTRASSE, GERMANY) 2024:e2401019. [PMID: 38757438 DOI: 10.1002/smll.202401019] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/14/2024] [Revised: 05/07/2024] [Indexed: 05/18/2024]
Abstract
As a sustainable energy technology, electrocatalytic energy conversion requires electrocatalysts, which greatly motivates the exploitation of high-performance electrocatalysts based on nonprecious metals. Molybdenum-based nanomaterials have demonstrated promise as electrocatalysts because of their unique physiochemical and electronic properties. Among them, atomic Mo catalysts, also called Mo-based single-atom catalysts (Mo-SACs), have the most accessible active sites and tunable microenvironments and are thrivingly explored in various electrochemical conversion reactions. A timely review of such rapidly developing topics is necessary to provide guidance for further exploration of optimized Mo-SACs toward electrochemical energy technologies. In this review, recent advances in the synthetic strategies for Mo-SACs are highlighted, focusing on the microenvironment engineering of Mo atoms. Then, the representative achievements of their applications in various electrocatalytic reactions involving the N2, H2O, and CO2 cycles are summarized by combining experimental and computational results. Finally, prospects for the future development of Mo-SACs in electrocatalysis are provided and the key challenges that require further investigation and optimization are highlighted.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jianmei Chen
- College of Electronic and Optical Engineering & College of Flexible Electronics (Future Technology), Nanjing University of Posts and Telecommunications, Nanjing, 210023, China
| | - Shanlu Guo
- College of Electronic and Optical Engineering & College of Flexible Electronics (Future Technology), Nanjing University of Posts and Telecommunications, Nanjing, 210023, China
| | - Longlu Wang
- College of Electronic and Optical Engineering & College of Flexible Electronics (Future Technology), Nanjing University of Posts and Telecommunications, Nanjing, 210023, China
| | - Shujuan Liu
- State Key Laboratory of Organic Electronics and Information Displays and Jiangsu Key Laboratory for Biosensors, Institute of Advanced Materials (IAM), Nanjing University of Posts and Telecommunications, Nanjing, 210023, China
| | - Hao Wang
- Research Institute of Superconductor Electronics, School of Electronic Science and Engineering, Nanjing University, Nanjing, 210023, China
| | - Qiang Zhao
- College of Electronic and Optical Engineering & College of Flexible Electronics (Future Technology), Nanjing University of Posts and Telecommunications, Nanjing, 210023, China
- State Key Laboratory of Organic Electronics and Information Displays and Jiangsu Key Laboratory for Biosensors, Institute of Advanced Materials (IAM), Nanjing University of Posts and Telecommunications, Nanjing, 210023, China
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Sathishkumar N, Chen HT. Regulating the Coordination Environment of Single-Atom Catalysts Anchored on Thiophene Linked Porphyrin for an Efficient Nitrogen Reduction Reaction. ACS APPLIED MATERIALS & INTERFACES 2023; 15:15545-15560. [PMID: 36931875 DOI: 10.1021/acsami.3c00559] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/18/2023]
Abstract
The electrochemical nitrogen reduction reaction (NRR) offers a promising strategy to resolve high energy consumption in the nitrogen industry. Recently, the regulation of the electronic structure of single-atom catalysts (SACs) by adjusting their coordination environment has emerged as a rather promising strategy to further enhance their electrocatalytic activity. Herein, we design novel SACs supported by thiophene-linked porphyrin (TM-N4/TP and TM-N4-xBx/TP, where TM = Sc to Au) as potential NRR catalysts using density functional theory calculations. Among these catalysts, TM-N4/TP (TM = Ti, Nb, Mo, Ta, W, and Re) and TM-N4/TP with a water bilayer (TM = Nb, Mo, W, and Re) show excellent activity (low limiting potential) but low selectivity. Encouragingly, we find that Mo-N3B/TP, Mo-N2B2-2/TP, W-N3B/TP, W-N2B2-2/TP, Re-N3B/TP, Re-N2B2-2/TP, and Re-N2B2-1/TP serve as the most efficient NRR electrocatalysts, as they present stability, superior activity, better selectivity with low limiting potentials (-0.18 ∼ -0.90 V), and high Faradaic efficiencies (>99.80%). Based on microkinetic modeling, kinetic analysis of the NRR is performed and shows that the Re-N2B2-1/TP catalyst is more efficient for NH3 formation. Additionally, multiple-level descriptors provide insight into the origin of NRR activity and enable fast prescreening among numerous candidates. This work provides a new perspective to design highly efficient catalysts for the NRR under ambient conditions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nadaraj Sathishkumar
- Department of Chemistry, R&D Center for Membrane Technology, and Research Center for Semiconductor Materials and Advanced Optics, Chung Yuan Christian University, Chungli District, Taoyuan City 320314, Taiwan
| | - Hsin-Tsung Chen
- Department of Chemistry, R&D Center for Membrane Technology, and Research Center for Semiconductor Materials and Advanced Optics, Chung Yuan Christian University, Chungli District, Taoyuan City 320314, Taiwan
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Chen Z, Liu C, Sun L, Wang T. Progress of Experimental and Computational Catalyst Design for Electrochemical Nitrogen Fixation. ACS Catal 2022. [DOI: 10.1021/acscatal.2c02629] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/16/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Zhe Chen
- Center of Artificial Photosynthesis for Solar Fuels and Department of Chemistry, School of Science, Westlake University, 18 Shilongshan Road, Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province 310024, China
- Department of Chemistry, Zhejiang University, 38 Zheda Road, Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province 310027, China
| | - Chunli Liu
- Center of Artificial Photosynthesis for Solar Fuels and Department of Chemistry, School of Science, Westlake University, 18 Shilongshan Road, Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province 310024, China
- Institute of Natural Sciences, Westlake Institute for Advanced Study, 18 Shilongshan Road, Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province 310024, China
| | - Licheng Sun
- Center of Artificial Photosynthesis for Solar Fuels and Department of Chemistry, School of Science, Westlake University, 18 Shilongshan Road, Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province 310024, China
- Institute of Natural Sciences, Westlake Institute for Advanced Study, 18 Shilongshan Road, Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province 310024, China
| | - Tao Wang
- Center of Artificial Photosynthesis for Solar Fuels and Department of Chemistry, School of Science, Westlake University, 18 Shilongshan Road, Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province 310024, China
- Institute of Natural Sciences, Westlake Institute for Advanced Study, 18 Shilongshan Road, Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province 310024, China
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Liu S, Liu Y, Cheng Z, Tan Y, Ren Y, Yuan T, Shen Z. Catalytic Role of Adsorption of Electrolyte/Molecules as Functional Ligands on Two-Dimensional TM-N 4 Monolayer Catalysts for the Electrocatalytic Nitrogen Reduction Reaction. ACS APPLIED MATERIALS & INTERFACES 2021; 13:40590-40601. [PMID: 34415719 DOI: 10.1021/acsami.1c10367] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
Two-dimensional single-atom catalysts (2D SACs) have been widely studied on the nitrogen reduction reaction (NRR). The characteristics of 2D catalysts imply that both sides of the monolayer can be catalytic sites and adsorb electrolyte ions or molecules from solutions. Overstrong adsorption of electrolyte ions or molecules on both sides of the catalyst site will poison the catalyst, while the adsorbate on one side of the catalytic site will modify the activity and selectivity of the other side for NRR. Discovering the influence of adsorption of electrolyte ions or molecules as a functional ligand on catalyst performance on the NRR is crucial to improve NRR efficiency. Here, we report this work using the density functional theory (DFT) method to investigate adsorption of electrolyte ions or molecules as a functional ligand. Among all of the studied 18 functional ligands and 3 transition metals (TMs), the results showed that Ru&F, Ru&COOH, and Mo&H2O combinations were screened as electrocatalysis systems with high activity and selectivity. Particularly, the Mo&H2O combination possesses the highest activity with a low ΔGMAX of 0.44 eV through the distal pathway. The superior catalytic performance of the Mo&H2O combination is mainly attributed to the electron donation from the metal d orbital. Furthermore, the functional ligands can occupy the active sites and block the competing vigorous hydrogen evolution reaction. Our findings offer an effective and practical strategy to design the combination of the catalyst and electrolyte to improve electrocatalytic NRR efficiency.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shiqiang Liu
- School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240, P. R. China
| | - Yawei Liu
- School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240, P. R. China
| | - Zhiwen Cheng
- School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240, P. R. China
| | - Yujia Tan
- School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240, P. R. China
| | - Yuanyang Ren
- School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240, P. R. China
| | - Tao Yuan
- School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240, P. R. China
- Shanghai Engineering Research Center of Solid Waste Treatment and Resource Recovery, Shanghai 200240, P. R. China
- State Environmental Protection Key laboratory of Environmental Health Impact Assessment of Emerging Contaminants, Shanghai 200092, P. R. China
| | - Zhemin Shen
- School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240, P. R. China
- Shanghai Engineering Research Center of Solid Waste Treatment and Resource Recovery, Shanghai 200240, P. R. China
- State Environmental Protection Key laboratory of Environmental Health Impact Assessment of Emerging Contaminants, Shanghai 200092, P. R. China
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