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Cao J, Zhao F, Li C, Zhao Q, Gao L, Ma T, Xu H, Ren X, Liu A. Electrocatalytic Synthesis of Urea: An In-depth Investigation from Material Modification to Mechanism Analysis. SMALL (WEINHEIM AN DER BERGSTRASSE, GERMANY) 2024:e2403412. [PMID: 38934550 DOI: 10.1002/smll.202403412] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/27/2024] [Revised: 06/13/2024] [Indexed: 06/28/2024]
Abstract
Industrial urea synthesis production uses NH3 from the Haber-Bosch method, followed by the reaction of NH3 with CO2, which is an energy-consuming technique. More thorough evaluations of the electrocatalytic C-N coupling reaction are needed for the urea synthesis development process, catalyst design, and the underlying reaction mechanisms. However, challenges of adsorption and activation of reactant and suppression of side reactions still hinder its development, making the systematic review necessary. This review meticulously outlines the progress in electrochemical urea synthesis by utilizing different nitrogen (NO3 -, N2, NO2 -, and N2O) and carbon (CO2 and CO) sources. Additionally, it delves into advanced methods in materials design, such as doping, facet engineering, alloying, and vacancy introduction. Furthermore, the existing classes of urea synthesis catalysts are clearly defined, which include 2D nanomaterials, materials with Mott-Schottky structure, materials with artificially frustrated Lewis pairs, single-atom catalysts (SACs), and heteronuclear dual-atom catalysts (HDACs). A comprehensive analysis of the benefits, drawbacks, and latest developments in modern urea detection techniques is discussed. It is aspired that this review will serve as a valuable reference for subsequent designs of highly efficient electrocatalysts and the development of strategies to enhance the performance of electrochemical urea synthesis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jianghui Cao
- School of Chemical Engineering, Ocean and Life Sciences, Leicester International Institute, Dalian University of Technology, Panjin, 124221, China
| | - Fang Zhao
- School of Chemical Engineering, Ocean and Life Sciences, Leicester International Institute, Dalian University of Technology, Panjin, 124221, China
| | - Chengjie Li
- Shandong Engineering Research Center of Green and High-value Marine Fine Chemical, Weifang University of Science and Technology, Weifang, 262700, China
| | - Qidong Zhao
- School of Chemical Engineering, Ocean and Life Sciences, Leicester International Institute, Dalian University of Technology, Panjin, 124221, China
| | - Liguo Gao
- School of Chemical Engineering, Ocean and Life Sciences, Leicester International Institute, Dalian University of Technology, Panjin, 124221, China
| | - Tingli Ma
- Department of Materials Science and Engineering, China Jiliang University, Hangzhou, 310018, China
| | - Hao Xu
- College of Chemical Engineering, Inner Mongolia University of Technology, Hohhot, 010051, China
| | - Xuefeng Ren
- School of Chemical Engineering, Ocean and Life Sciences, Leicester International Institute, Dalian University of Technology, Panjin, 124221, China
| | - Anmin Liu
- School of Chemical Engineering, Ocean and Life Sciences, Leicester International Institute, Dalian University of Technology, Panjin, 124221, China
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Yang S, Liu X, Li S, Yuan W, Yang L, Wang T, Zheng H, Cao R, Zhang W. The mechanism of water oxidation using transition metal-based heterogeneous electrocatalysts. Chem Soc Rev 2024; 53:5593-5625. [PMID: 38646825 DOI: 10.1039/d3cs01031g] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 04/23/2024]
Abstract
The water oxidation reaction, a crucial process for solar energy conversion, has garnered significant research attention. Achieving efficient energy conversion requires the development of cost-effective and durable water oxidation catalysts. To design effective catalysts, it is essential to have a fundamental understanding of the reaction mechanisms. This review presents a comprehensive overview of recent advancements in the understanding of the mechanisms of water oxidation using transition metal-based heterogeneous electrocatalysts, including Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, and Cu-based catalysts. It highlights the catalytic mechanisms of different transition metals and emphasizes the importance of monitoring of key intermediates to explore the reaction pathway. In addition, advanced techniques for physical characterization of water oxidation intermediates are also introduced, for the purpose of providing information for establishing reliable methodologies in water oxidation research. The study of transition metal-based water oxidation electrocatalysts is instrumental in providing novel insights into understanding both natural and artificial energy conversion processes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shujiao Yang
- Key Laboratory of Applied Surface and Colloid Chemistry, Ministry of Education, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Shaanxi Normal University, Xi'an 710119, P. R. China.
| | - Xiaohan Liu
- Key Laboratory of Applied Surface and Colloid Chemistry, Ministry of Education, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Shaanxi Normal University, Xi'an 710119, P. R. China.
| | - Sisi Li
- Key Laboratory of Applied Surface and Colloid Chemistry, Ministry of Education, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Shaanxi Normal University, Xi'an 710119, P. R. China.
| | - Wenjie Yuan
- Key Laboratory of Applied Surface and Colloid Chemistry, Ministry of Education, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Shaanxi Normal University, Xi'an 710119, P. R. China.
| | - Luna Yang
- Key Laboratory of Applied Surface and Colloid Chemistry, Ministry of Education, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Shaanxi Normal University, Xi'an 710119, P. R. China.
| | - Ting Wang
- Key Laboratory of Applied Surface and Colloid Chemistry, Ministry of Education, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Shaanxi Normal University, Xi'an 710119, P. R. China.
| | - Haoquan Zheng
- Key Laboratory of Applied Surface and Colloid Chemistry, Ministry of Education, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Shaanxi Normal University, Xi'an 710119, P. R. China.
| | - Rui Cao
- Key Laboratory of Applied Surface and Colloid Chemistry, Ministry of Education, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Shaanxi Normal University, Xi'an 710119, P. R. China.
| | - Wei Zhang
- Key Laboratory of Applied Surface and Colloid Chemistry, Ministry of Education, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Shaanxi Normal University, Xi'an 710119, P. R. China.
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An N, Chen T, Zhang J, Wang G, Yan M, Yang S. Rational Electrochemical Design of Cuprous Oxide Hierarchical Microarchitectures and Their Derivatives for SERS Sensing Applications. SMALL METHODS 2024; 8:e2300910. [PMID: 38415973 DOI: 10.1002/smtd.202300910] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/20/2023] [Revised: 01/02/2024] [Indexed: 02/29/2024]
Abstract
Rational morphology control of inorganic microarchitectures is important in diverse fields, requiring precise regulation of nucleation and growth processes. While wet chemical methods have achieved success regarding the shape-controlled synthesis of micro/nanostructures, accurately controlling the growth behavior in real time remains challenging. Comparatively, the electrodeposition technique can immediately control the growth behavior by tuning the overpotential, whereas it is rarely used to design complex microarchitectures. Here, the electrochemical design of complex Cu2O microarchitectures step-by-step by precisely controlling the growth behavior is demonstrated. The growth modes can be switched between the thermodynamic and kinetic modes by varying the overpotential. Cl- ions preferably adhered to {100} facets to modulate growth rates of these facets is proved. The discovered growth modes to prepare Cu2O microarchitectures composed of multiple building units inaccessible with existing methods are employed. Polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) additives can guarantee all pre-electrodeposits simultaneously evolve into uniform microarchitectures, instead of forming undesired microstructures on bare electrode surfaces in following electrodeposition processes is discovered. The designed Cu2O microarchitectures can be converted into noble metal microstructures with shapes unchanged, which can be used as surface-enhanced Raman scattering substrates. An electrochemical avenue toward rational design of complex inorganic microarchitectures is opened up.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ning An
- Institute for Composites Science Innovation, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310027, China
| | - Tiantian Chen
- Institute for Composites Science Innovation, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310027, China
| | - Junfeng Zhang
- School of Physics and Information, Shanxi Normal University, Taiyuan, 030031, China
| | - Guanghui Wang
- School of Automotive Engineering, Hubei University of Automotive Technology, Shiyan, 442002, China
| | - Mi Yan
- State Key Laboratory of Silicon Materials, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310027, China
- State Key Laboratory of Baiyunobo Rare Earth Resource Researches and Comprehensive Utilization, Baotou Research Institution of Rare Earths, Baotou, 014030, China
| | - Shikuan Yang
- Institute for Composites Science Innovation, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310027, China
- State Key Laboratory of Baiyunobo Rare Earth Resource Researches and Comprehensive Utilization, Baotou Research Institution of Rare Earths, Baotou, 014030, China
- Department of Medical Oncology, The First Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, 310003, China
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Roman HE, Cesura F, Maryam R, Levchenko I, Alexander K, Riccardi C. The fractal geometry of polymeric materials surfaces: surface area and fractal length scales. SOFT MATTER 2024; 20:3082-3096. [PMID: 38315084 DOI: 10.1039/d3sm01497e] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/07/2024]
Abstract
Using three common polymeric materials (polypropylene (PP), polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) and polycaprolactone (PCL)), a standard oxygen-plasma treatment and atomic force microscopy (AFM), we performed a scaling analysis of the modified surfaces yielding effective Hurst exponents (H ≃ 0.77 ± 0.02 (PP), ≃0.75 ± 0.02 (PTFE), and ≃0.83 ± 0.02 (PCL)), for the one-dimensional profiles, corresponding to the transversal sections of the surface, by averaging over all possible profiles. The surface fractal dimensions are given by ds = 3 - H, corresponding to ds ≃ 2.23, 2.25, and 2.17, respectively. We present a simple method to obtain the surface area from the AFM images stored in a matrix of 512 × 512 pixels. We show that the considerable increase found in the surface areas of the treated samples w.r.t. to the non-treated ones (43% for PP, 85% for PTFE, and 25% for PCL, with errors of about 2.5% on samples of 2 µm × 2 µm) is consistent with the observed increase in the length scales of the fractal regime to determine H, typically by a factor of about 2, extending from a few to hundreds of nanometres. We stipulate that the intrinsic roughness already present in the original non-treated material surfaces may serve as 'fractal' seeds undergoing significant height fluctuations during plasma treatment, suggesting a pathway for the future development of advanced material interfaces with large surface areas at the nanoscale.
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Affiliation(s)
- H Eduardo Roman
- Dipartimento di Fisica, Università di Milano-Bicocca, Piazza della Scienza 3, 20126 Milano, Italy.
| | - Federico Cesura
- Dipartimento Scienza dei Materiali, Università di Milano-Bicocca, R. Cozzi 55, 20125 Milano, Italy.
| | - Rabia Maryam
- Dipartimento di Fisica, Università di Milano-Bicocca, Piazza della Scienza 3, 20126 Milano, Italy.
| | - Igor Levchenko
- Plasma Sources and Application Centre, Space Propulsion Centre Singapore, 637616 NIE, Singapore.
| | - Katia Alexander
- Electronics Materials Lab, College of Science and Engineering, James Cook University, QLD 4811 Townsville, Australia
- School of Engineering, The Australian National University, ACT 2601 Canberra, Australia.
| | - Claudia Riccardi
- Dipartimento di Fisica, Università di Milano-Bicocca, Piazza della Scienza 3, 20126 Milano, Italy.
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Michelson A, Subramanian A, Kisslinger K, Tiwale N, Xiang S, Shen E, Kahn JS, Nykypanchuk D, Yan H, Nam CY, Gang O. Three-dimensional nanoscale metal, metal oxide, and semiconductor frameworks through DNA-programmable assembly and templating. SCIENCE ADVANCES 2024; 10:eadl0604. [PMID: 38198553 PMCID: PMC10780874 DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.adl0604] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/28/2023] [Accepted: 12/05/2023] [Indexed: 01/12/2024]
Abstract
Controlling the three-dimensional (3D) nanoarchitecture of inorganic materials is imperative for enabling their novel mechanical, optical, and electronic properties. Here, by exploiting DNA-programmable assembly, we establish a general approach for realizing designed 3D ordered inorganic frameworks. Through inorganic templating of DNA frameworks by liquid- and vapor-phase infiltrations, we demonstrate successful nanofabrication of diverse classes of inorganic frameworks from metal, metal oxide and semiconductor materials, as well as their combinations, including zinc, aluminum, copper, molybdenum, tungsten, indium, tin, and platinum, and composites such as aluminum-doped zinc oxide, indium tin oxide, and platinum/aluminum-doped zinc oxide. The open 3D frameworks have features on the order of nanometers with architecture prescribed by the DNA frames and self-assembled lattice. Structural and spectroscopic studies reveal the composition and organization of diverse inorganic frameworks, as well as the optoelectronic properties of selected materials. The work paves the road toward establishing a 3D nanoscale lithography.
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Affiliation(s)
- Aaron Michelson
- Center for Functional Nanomaterials, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, NY 11973, USA
- Department of Applied Physics and Applied Mathematics, Columbia University, New York, NY 10027, USA
| | - Ashwanth Subramanian
- Department of Materials Science and Chemical Engineering, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY 11794, USA
| | - Kim Kisslinger
- Center for Functional Nanomaterials, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, NY 11973, USA
| | - Nikhil Tiwale
- Center for Functional Nanomaterials, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, NY 11973, USA
| | - Shuting Xiang
- Department of Chemical Engineering, Columbia University, 817 SW Mudd, New York, NY 10027, USA
| | - Eric Shen
- Department of Chemical Engineering, Columbia University, 817 SW Mudd, New York, NY 10027, USA
| | - Jason S. Kahn
- Center for Functional Nanomaterials, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, NY 11973, USA
| | - Dmytro Nykypanchuk
- Center for Functional Nanomaterials, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, NY 11973, USA
| | - Hanfei Yan
- National Synchrotron Light Source II, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, NY 11973, USA
| | - Chang-Yong Nam
- Center for Functional Nanomaterials, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, NY 11973, USA
- Department of Materials Science and Chemical Engineering, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY 11794, USA
| | - Oleg Gang
- Center for Functional Nanomaterials, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, NY 11973, USA
- Department of Applied Physics and Applied Mathematics, Columbia University, New York, NY 10027, USA
- Department of Chemical Engineering, Columbia University, 817 SW Mudd, New York, NY 10027, USA
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