Balancing H Adsorption/Desorption by Localized 4f Orbital Electrons of Lanthanide Dopants in Carbon-Encapsulated MoP for Boosted Hydrogen Evolution.

MoP is one of the most efficient catalysts for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). However, molybdenum ion exhibits a strong adsorption ability for H due to the abundant states in the conduction bands associated with the dispersed nature of Mo 4d electrons, which is difficult to change through interactions with other transition metal dopants of d orbital electrons. Herein, lanthanide (Ln: La, Ce, Sm, Gd, and Yb) dopants of localized 4f orbital are used to hybridize with d and p orbitals of MoP to balance the H adsorption energy to significantly enhance the HER activity.

Multiple Functional Engineering Strategies and Active Site Identification in Ru-Based Electrocatalysts for Catalytic Conversion Reactions.

Electrochemical conversion has been regarded as an ideal technology for achieving clean and sustainable energy, showing significant promise in addressing the increasingly serious energy crisis and environmental pollution. Ru-containing electrocatalysts (RUCE) outperform other precious metals due to elevated intrinsic activity and superior cost-effectiveness, developing into a promising candidate for electrochemical conversion reactions. A significant challenge in the field of catalyst discovery lies in its heavy reliance on empirical methods, rather than approaches that are rooted in rational design principles.

An efficient hydrogen evolution catalyst constructed using Pt-modified NiS/MoS with optimized kinetics across the full pH range.

Electrocatalyst materials play a crucial role in determining the efficiency of the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER), directly influencing the overall effectiveness of energy conversion technologies. NiS/MoS heterostructures hold substantial promise as bifunctional catalysts, owing to their synergistic electronic characteristics and plentiful active sites. However, their catalytic efficacy is impeded by the relatively elevated chemisorption energy of hydrogen-containing intermediates, which constrains their functionality in different pH environments.

Multifunctional Strategies of Advanced Electrocatalysts for Efficient Urea Synthesis.

The electrochemical reduction of nitrogenous species (such as N, NO, NO , and NO ) for urea synthesis under ambient conditions has been extensively studied due to their potential to realize carbon/nitrogen neutrality and mitigate environmental pollution, as well as provide a means to store renewable electricity generated from intermittent sources such as wind and solar power. However, the sluggish reaction kinetics and the scarcity of active sites on electrocatalysts have significantly hindered the advancement of their practical applications. Multifunctional engineering of electrocatalysts has been rationally designed and investigated to adjust their electronic structures, increase the density of active sites, and optimize the binding energies to enhance electrocatalytic performance.

Arrayed metal phosphide heterostructure by Fe doping for robust overall water splitting.

Transition metal phosphides (TMPs) show promise in water electrolysis due to their electronic structures, which activate hydrogen/oxygen reaction intermediates. However, TMPs face limitations in catalytic efficiency due to insufficient active sites, poor conductivity, and multiple intermediate steps in water electrolysis. Here, we synthesize a highly efficient bifunctional self-supported electrocatalyst, which consists of an N-doped carbon shell anchored on Fe-doped CoP/CoP arrays on nickel foam (NC@Fe-CoP/NF) using hydrothermal and phosphorization techniques.

Heterointerface manipulation in the architecture of Co-MoC@NC boosts water electrolysis.

Heterostructures with tunable electronic properties have shown great potential in water electrolysis for the replacement of current benchmark precious metals. However, constructing heterostructures with sufficient interfaces to strengthen the synergistic effect of multiple species still remains a challenge due to phase separation. Herein, an efficient electrocatalyst composed of a nanosized cobalt/MoC heterostructure anchored on N-doped carbon (Co-MoC@NC) was achieved by in situ topotactic phase transformation.

Surface and Interface Engineering: Molybdenum Carbide-Based Nanomaterials for Electrochemical Energy Conversion.

Molybdenum carbide (Mo C)-based nanomaterials have shown competitive performances for energy conversion applications based on their unique physicochemical properties. A large surface area and proper surface atomic configuration are essential to explore potentiality of Mo C in electrochemical applications. Although considerable efforts are made on the development of advanced Mo C-based catalysts for energy conversion with high efficiency and stability, some urgent issues, such as low electronic conductivity, low catalytic efficiency, and structural instability, have to be resolved in accordance with their application environments.