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Research Article Issue
Size control and electronic manipulation of Ru catalyst over B, N co-doped carbon network for high-performance hydrogen evolution reaction
Nano Research 2023, 16 (5): 6212-6219
Published: 27 December 2022
Downloads:94

Exploring highly efficient Pt-free catalysts for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) is of great importance for hydrogen (H2) production. Herein, a novel HER electrocatalyst having abundant ultra-small (2–3 nm) Ru electronically confined by a B, N co-doped polar carbon surface (Ru/(B-N)-PC) was constructed. The Ru/(B-N)-PC catalyst exhibits a low overpotential of 15 mV at the current density of 10 mA·cm−2, a low Tafel slope of 22.6 mV·dec−1, and superior durability, which outperforms the benchmark Pt/C catalyst. Both experimental characterizations and theory calculations suggest that an electron communication established between B, N co-doped carbon surface and ultra-small Ru nanoparticles with electrons transferred from N atoms to Ru and back-transferred from Ru to B atoms, which exerts a moderate electronic modification of Ru. This, in turn, affords a modest H adsorption energy and a lower H2O dissociation barrier, leading to the high-performance hydrogen evolution reaction. The work provides meaningful insight into the size control and electronic modulation of Ru catalyst for intrinsic HER activity improvement.

Open Access Review Article Issue
Porphyrin-based framework materials for energy conversion
Nano Research Energy 2022, 1: 9120009
Published: 29 May 2022
Downloads:2581

With the increasing demand for fuel causing serious environmental pollution, it is urgent to develop new and environmentally friendly energy conversion devices. These energy conversion devices, however, require good, inexpensive materials for electrodes and so on. The multifunctional properties of porphyrins enable framework materials (e.g., metal-organic frameworks and covalent organic frameworks) to be applied in energy conversion devices due to their simple synthesis, high chemical stability, abundant metallic active sites, adjustable crystalline structure and high specific surface area. Herein, the types of porphyrin structural blocks are briefly reviewed. They can be used as organic ligands or directly assembled with framework materials to generate high-performance electro-/photo-catalysts. These types of catalysts applied in electro-/photo-catalytic water splitting, electro-/photo-catalytic carbon dioxide reduction, and electrocatalytic oxygen reduction are also summarized and introduced. At the end of the article, we present the challenges of porphyrin-based framework materials in the above application and corresponding solutions. We expect porphyrin-based framework materials to flourish energy conversion in the coming years.

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