The surface structure, stability, and catalytic performances toward O2 reduction of CoP and FeCoP2

Carbon-Based Composites for Oxygen Evolution Reaction Electrocatalysts: Design, Fabrication, and Application

The four-electron oxidation process of the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) highly influences the performance of many green energy storage and conversion devices due to its sluggish kinetics. The fabrication of cost-effective OER electrocatalysts via a facile and green method is, hence, highly desirable. This review summarizes and discusses the recent progress in creating carbon-based materials for alkaline OER. The contents mainly focus on the design, fabrication, and application of carbon-based materials for alkaline OER, including metal-free carbon materials, carbon-based supported composites, and carbon-based material core-shell hybrids. The work presents references and suggestions for the rational design of highly efficient carbon-based OER materials.

Rational Design of Cost-Effective Metal-Doped ZrO2 for Oxygen Evolution Reaction

The design of cost-effective electrocatalysts is an open challenging for oxygen evolution reaction (OER) due to the "stable-or-active" dilemma. Zirconium dioxide (ZrO2), a versatile and low-cost material that can be stable under OER operating conditions, exhibits inherently poor OER activity from experimental observations. Herein, we doped a series of metal elements to regulate the ZrO2 catalytic activity in OER via spin-polarized density functional theory calculations with van der Waals interactions. Microkinetic modeling as a function of the OER activity descriptor (GO*-GHO*) displays that 16 metal dopants enable to enhance OER activities over a thermodynamically stable ZrO2 surface, among which Fe and Rh (in the form of single-atom dopant) reach the volcano peak (i.e. the optimal activity of OER under the potential of interest), indicating excellent OER performance. Free energy diagram calculations, density of states, and ab initio molecular dynamics simulations further showed that Fe and Rh are the effective dopants for ZrO2, leading to low OER overpotential, high conductivity, and good stability. Considering cost-effectiveness, single-atom Fe doped ZrO2 emerged as the most promising catalyst for OER. This finding offers a valuable perspective and reference for experimental researchers to design cost-effective catalysts for the industrial-scale OER production.

Recent progress in hierarchical nanostructures for Ni-based industrial-level OER catalysts

Exploring efficient and low-cost oxygen evolution reaction (OER) electrocatalysts reaching the industrial level current density is crucial for hydrogen production via water electrolysis. In this feature article, we summarize the recent progress in hierarchical nanostructures for the industrial-level OER. The contents mainly concern (i) the design of a hierarchical structure; (ii) a Ni-based hierarchical structure for the industrial current density OER; and (iii) the surface reconstruction of the hierarchical structure during the OER process. The work provides valuable guidance and insights for the manufacture of hierarchical nanomaterials and devices for industrial applications.

Carbon-incorporated bimetallic phosphides nanospheres derived from MOFs as superior electrocatalysts for hydrogen evolution

Preparing low-cost and highly efficient electrocatalysts for hydrogen evolution reaction in a simple strategy is still facing challenges. In this work, we proposed a facile phosphating process to successfully transform...