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Zhang W, Yang S, Jiang M, Hu Y, Hu C, Zhang X, Jin Z. Nanocapillarity and Nanoconfinement Effects of Pipet-like Bismuth@Carbon Nanotubes for Highly Efficient Electrocatalytic CO 2 Reduction. Nano Lett 2021; 21:2650-2657. [PMID: 33710893 DOI: 10.1021/acs.nanolett.1c00390] [Citation(s) in RCA: 43] [Impact Index Per Article: 14.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/12/2023]
Abstract
Electrocatalytic CO2 reduction reaction is regarded as an intriguing route for producing renewable chemicals and fuels, but its development is limited by the lack of highly efficient and stable electrocatalysts. Herein, we propose the pipet-like bismuth (Bi) nanorods semifilled in nitrogen-doped carbon nanotubes (Bi-NRs@NCNTs) for highly selective electrocatalytic CO2 reduction. Benefited from the prominent capillary and confinement effects, the Bi-NRs@NCNTs act as nanoscale conveyors that can significantly facilitate the mass transport, adsorption,and concentration of reactants onto the active sites, realizing rapid reaction kinetics and low cathodic polarization. The spatial encapsulation and separation by the NCNT shells prevents the self-aggregation and surface oxidation of Bi-NRs, increasing the dispersity and stability of the electrocatalyst. As a result, the Bi-NRs@NCNTs exhibit high activity and durable catalytic stability for CO2-to-formate conversion over a wide potential range. The Faradaic efficiency for formate production reaches 90.9% at a moderate applied potential of -0.9 V vs reversible hydrogen electrode (RHE).
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Affiliation(s)
- Wenjun Zhang
- MOE Key Laboratory of Mesoscopic Chemistry, MOE Key Laboratory of High Performance Polymer Materials and Technology, Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Advanced Organic Materials, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210023, China
- Jiangsu Co-Innovation Center of Efficient Processing and Utilization of Forest Resources, Jiangsu Province Key Laboratory of Green Biomass-based Fuels and Chemicals, College of Chemical Engineering, Nanjing Forestry University, Nanjing 210037, China
- Shenzhen Research Institute of Nanjing University, Shenzhen 518063, China
| | - Songyuan Yang
- MOE Key Laboratory of Mesoscopic Chemistry, MOE Key Laboratory of High Performance Polymer Materials and Technology, Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Advanced Organic Materials, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210023, China
- Shenzhen Research Institute of Nanjing University, Shenzhen 518063, China
| | - Minghang Jiang
- MOE Key Laboratory of Mesoscopic Chemistry, MOE Key Laboratory of High Performance Polymer Materials and Technology, Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Advanced Organic Materials, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210023, China
- Shenzhen Research Institute of Nanjing University, Shenzhen 518063, China
| | - Yi Hu
- MOE Key Laboratory of Mesoscopic Chemistry, MOE Key Laboratory of High Performance Polymer Materials and Technology, Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Advanced Organic Materials, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210023, China
- Shenzhen Research Institute of Nanjing University, Shenzhen 518063, China
| | - Chaoquan Hu
- State Key Laboratory of Multiphase Complex Systems, Institute of Process Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China
| | - Xiaoli Zhang
- School of Materials Science and Engineering, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou 450001, China
| | - Zhong Jin
- MOE Key Laboratory of Mesoscopic Chemistry, MOE Key Laboratory of High Performance Polymer Materials and Technology, Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Advanced Organic Materials, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210023, China
- Shenzhen Research Institute of Nanjing University, Shenzhen 518063, China
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Abstract
Nanotextures play increasingly important roles in nanotechnology. Recent studies revealed that their functionalities can be further enhanced by spatially modulating the height of their nanoscale pixels. Realizing the concept, however, is very challenging as it requires "grayscale" printing of the nanopixels in which their height is controlled within a few nanometers as a micrometric function of position. This work demonstrates such a high vertical and lateral resolution grayscale printing of polymeric nanopixels. We realize the height modulation by exploiting the discovery that the capillary rise of certain photopolymers can be optically controlled to stop at a predetermined height with sub-10-nm accuracy. Microscale spatial patterning of the control light directly extends the height modulation into a two-dimensionally patterned, grayscale nanopixel printing. Its utility is verified through readily reconfigurable, maskless printing of grayscale nanopixel arrays in dielectric and metallo-dielectric forms. This work also reveals the highly nonlinear and unstable nature of the polymeric nanocapillary effect, expanding its understanding and application scope.
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Affiliation(s)
- Qiang Li
- Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa 50011, United States
| | - Myung Gi Ji
- Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa 50011, United States
| | - Jaeyoun Kim
- Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa 50011, United States
- Microelectronics Research Center, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa 50011, United States
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