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Sokolov M, Doblhoff-Dier K, Exner KS. Best practices of modeling complex materials in electrocatalysis, exemplified by oxygen evolution reaction on pentlandites. Phys Chem Chem Phys 2024; 26:22359-22370. [PMID: 39158931 DOI: 10.1039/d4cp01792g] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 08/20/2024]
Abstract
Pentlandites are natural ores with structural properties comparable to that of [FeNi] hydrogenases. While this class of transition-metal sulfide materials - (Fe,Ni)9S8 - with a variable Fe : Ni ratio has been proven to be an active electrode material for the hydrogen evolution reaction, it is also discussed as electrocatalyst for the alkaline oxygen evolution reaction (OER), corresponding to the bottleneck of anion exchange membrane electrolyzers for green hydrogen production. Despite the experimental evidence for the use of (Fe,Ni)9S8 as an OER catalyst, a detailed investigation of the elementary reaction steps, including consideration of adsorbate coverages and limiting steps under anodic polarizing conditions, is still missing. We address this gap in the present manuscript by gaining atomistic insights into the OER on an Fe4.5Ni4.5S8(111) surface through density functional theory calculations combined with a descriptor-based analysis. We use this system to introduce best practices for modeling this rather complex material by pointing out hidden pitfalls that can arise when using the popular computational hydrogen electrode approach to describe electrocatalytic processes at the electrified solid/liquid interface for energy conversion and storage.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maksim Sokolov
- Faculty of Chemistry, Theoretical Inorganic Chemistry, University Duisburg-Essen, Universitätsstraße 5, 45141 Essen, Germany.
- Cluster of Excellence RESOLV, 44801 Bochum, Germany
| | - Katharina Doblhoff-Dier
- Leiden Institute of Chemistry, Leiden University, P.O. Box 9502, Leiden 2300, RA, The Netherlands
| | - Kai S Exner
- Faculty of Chemistry, Theoretical Inorganic Chemistry, University Duisburg-Essen, Universitätsstraße 5, 45141 Essen, Germany.
- Cluster of Excellence RESOLV, 44801 Bochum, Germany
- Center for Nanointegration (CENIDE) Duisburg-Essen, 47057 Duisburg, Germany
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Lakhan MN, Hanan A, Hussain A, Ali Soomro I, Wang Y, Ahmed M, Aftab U, Sun H, Arandiyan H. Transition metal-based electrocatalysts for alkaline overall water splitting: advancements, challenges, and perspectives. Chem Commun (Camb) 2024; 60:5104-5135. [PMID: 38625567 DOI: 10.1039/d3cc06015b] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 04/17/2024]
Abstract
Water electrolysis is a promising method for efficiently producing hydrogen and oxygen, crucial for renewable energy conversion and fuel cell technologies. The hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and oxygen evolution reaction (OER) are two key electrocatalytic reactions occurring during water splitting, necessitating the development of active, stable, and low-cost electrocatalysts. Transition metal (TM)-based electrocatalysts, spanning noble metals and TM oxides, phosphides, nitrides, carbides, borides, chalcogenides, and dichalcogenides, have garnered significant attention due to their outstanding characteristics, including high electronic conductivity, tunable valence electron configuration, high stability, and cost-effectiveness. This timely review discusses developments in TM-based electrocatalysts for the HER and OER in alkaline media in the last 10 years, revealing that the exposure of more accessible surface-active sites, specific electronic effects, and string effects are essential for the development of efficient electrocatalysts towards electrochemical water splitting application. This comprehensive review serves as a guide for designing and constructing state-of-the-art, high-performance bifunctional electrocatalysts based on TMs, particularly for applications in water splitting.
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Affiliation(s)
- Muhammad Nazim Lakhan
- Applied Chemistry and Environmental Science, School of Science, STEM College, RMIT University, Melbourne, Australia
| | - Abdul Hanan
- Sunway Center for Electrochemical Energy and Sustainable Technology, SCEEST, Sunway University, Bandar Sunway, Malaysia
| | - Altaf Hussain
- State Key Laboratory of Electroanalytical Chemistry, Changchun Institute of Applied Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, P. R. China
- University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, P. R. China
| | - Irfan Ali Soomro
- Institute of Computational Chemistry, College of Chemistry, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, P. R. China
| | - Yuan Wang
- Department of Chemical Engineering, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC 3010, Australia.
| | - Mukhtiar Ahmed
- State Key Laboratory of Multiphase Complex Systems, Institute of Process Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, P. R. China
| | - Umair Aftab
- Department of Metallurgy and Materials Engineering, Mehran University of Engineering and Technology, Jamshoro, Pakistan.
| | - Hongyu Sun
- School of Resources and Materials, Northeastern University at Qinhuangdao, 066004 Qinhuangdao, P. R. China
| | - Hamidreza Arandiyan
- Centre for Advanced Materials and Industrial Chemistry (CAMIC), School of Science, RMIT University, Melbourne, VIC 3000, Australia.
- Laboratory of Advanced Catalysis for Sustainability, School of Chemistry, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia
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Cho K, Jang JY, Ko YJ, Myung Y, Son SU. Hollow Ru/RuO 2 nanospheres with nanoparticulate shells for high performance electrocatalytic oxygen evolution reactions. NANOSCALE ADVANCES 2024; 6:867-875. [PMID: 38298592 PMCID: PMC10825940 DOI: 10.1039/d3na00899a] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/19/2023] [Accepted: 12/14/2023] [Indexed: 02/02/2024]
Abstract
This work shows that hollow Ru/RuO2 nanoparticles having nanoparticulate shells (HN-Ru/RuO2) can be prepared using hollow microporous organic polymers with Ru species (H-MOP-Ru) as precursors. Using silica spheres as templates, H-MOPs were prepared through the Sonogashira-Hagihara coupling of 1,3,5-triethynylbenzene with 2,3-ethoxymethylenedioxy-1,4-diiodobenzene. Acid hydrolysis of cyclic ethyl orthoformate protecting groups generated catechol moieties to form H-MOP-Cat. Then, H-MOP-Ru was obtained by incorporating Ru species into H-MOP-Cat. Heat-treatment of H-MOP-Ru under air induced the formation of HN-Ru/RuO2 with a diameter of 61 nm and shells consisting of 6-7 nm nanoparticles. Due to the hollow structure and nanoparticulate shells, HN-Ru/RuO2 showed a high surface area of 80 m2 g-1 and a pore volume of 0.18 cm3 g-1. The HN-Ru/RuO2 showed enhanced electrocatalytic performance for the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) with an overpotential of 295 mV @ 10 mA cm-2 and a Tafel slope of 46 mV dec-1 in alkaline electrolyte, compared with control RuO2 such as commercial Ru/RuO2 nanoparticles (A-Ru/RuO2) and home-made Ru/RuO2 nanoparticles (N-Ru/RuO2) prepared via the same synthetic procedure as HN-Ru/RuO2. While HN-Ru/RuO2 inevitably contained Pd originated from coupling catalysts, it showed superior performance to Ru/RuO2 nanoparticles with the same Pd content (N1-Ru/RuO2), indicating that the efficient electrocatalytic performance of HN-Ru/RuO2 is attributable to its hollow structure and nanoparticulate shells.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kyoungil Cho
- Department of Chemistry, Sungkyunkwan University Suwon 16419 Korea
| | - June Young Jang
- Department of Chemistry, Sungkyunkwan University Suwon 16419 Korea
| | - Yoon-Joo Ko
- Laboratory of Nuclear Magnetic Resonance, National Center for Inter University Research Facilities (NCIRF), Seoul National University Seoul 08826 Korea
| | - Yoon Myung
- Korea Institute of Industrial Technology, Advanced Energy Materials and Components R&D Group Busan 46744 Korea
| | - Seung Uk Son
- Department of Chemistry, Sungkyunkwan University Suwon 16419 Korea
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