Sodium borohydride (NaBH4) is a nontoxic and ideal storage material for hydrogen due to its safety and high hydrogen storage capacity. In order to improve the practicality of the sodium borohydride hydrogen production system, we deposited non-precious metal catalytic materials on readily available polymer foams using a simple chemical plating method, developing a suitable 3D catalyst. Its high specific surface area enables it to produce hydrogen at a rate of up to 3.92 L min−1 g−1. Its unique structure gives the catalyst excellent durability. In addition, an efficient NaBH4-based H2 supply system was developed using this catalyst. Co-Cu-B can facilitate stable hydrogen production from NaBH4, yielding a consistent power output ranging from 0 to 100 W. This work provides a new pathway for developing high-efficiency monolithic self-supported catalysts for industrial applications.
7 June 2024 in Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics
Co-BTA and Rh-BTA are identified as superior catalysts for H2O2 production via 2e− ORR. And tensile strain could effectively reduce 2e− ORR overpotentials for Co-BTA and Rh-BTA to 0.06 eV and 0.02 eV.
20 June 2025 in Journal of Colloid and Interface Science
Electrochemical urea synthesis via co‐reduction of CO 2 and nitrate (NO 3− ) offers a sustainable route for C─N bond formation but remains challenged by poor selectivity and competing side reactions. Here, we report a dual‐metal interfacial engineering strategy that enables C─N coupling by favoring a key NO─M 1 ─NO─CO─M 2 configuration. Using CuBi 2 O 4 as a model precursor, in situ electroreduction induces reconstruction into an electron‐enriched and low‐coordinated Cu─Bi interfacial structure. Operando Raman and surface‐enhanced infrared absorption spectroscopy, together with density functional theory calculations, reveal that these reconstructed dual‐metal interfaces enable cooperative adsorption of NO 3− and CO 2 , favoring a spatially confined NO─Cu─NO─CO─Bi configuration. This proposed configuration lowers the overall activation barrier and converts the traditionally endergonic C─N coupling into an exergonic N─C─N coupling process, thereby redirecting the reaction pathway toward urea formation while suppressing nitrite and CO byproducts. As a result, the catalyst achieves a urea Faradaic efficiency of 32.7% at −0.4 V vs. RHE with a high yield rate of 2955.3 mg h −1 g −1 at −0.6 V vs. RHE under large current densities. This work provides insights into a generalizable interfacial‐site design for modulating reaction pathways in electrosynthetic C─N coupling systems.
Dimethylamine borane (DMAB) is a promising solid fuel for borane fuel cells due to its high hydrogen content and safety. However, the development is hindered by electrochemically sluggish DMAB oxidation reaction (DMABOR), since strongly adsorbed hydrogen‐containing reaction intermediates (*H) poison active sites. Herein, a Mo‐single‐atom‐enabled functional‐site‐decoupled PdMo catalyst is developed by combining functional‐site decoupling with atomic‐level oxophilic engineering. Spectroscopy and theoretical studies reveal that the catalyst comprises PdMo alloy particles (APs) and Mo single atoms (SAs), wherein alloyed Mo modulates electronic structure of Pd to weaken *H binding, and Mo SAs act as *OH‐affinitive Lewis‐acid sites that stabilize interfacial *OH, which is proposed to assist the oxidative removal of Pd‐bound *H. Notably, PdMo/KB was applied as the anode in direct DMAB fuel cells (D‐DMABFCs) for the first time, enabling an outstanding peak power density of 1195 mW cm −2 and stable operation for over 160 h, highlighting the potential of borane fuel cells as alternatives to hydrogen fuel cells. This functional‐site‐decoupling mechanism is further extended to alkaline hydrogen evolution reaction (HER), enabling a PdMo/KB‐based anion‐exchange membrane water electrolyzer (AEMWE) to reach 1.0 and 2.0 A cm −2 at 1.59 and 1.70 V, respectively, and operate stably for 1000 h.