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Title: Direct Observation of Structural Evolution of Metal Chalcogenide in Electrocatalytic Water Oxidation

Journal Article · · ACS Nano

As one of the most remarkable oxygen evolution reaction (OER) electrocatalysts, metal chalcogenides have been intensively reported during the past few decades because of their high OER activities. It has been reported that electron-chemical conversion of metal chalcogenides into oxides/hydroxides would take place after the OER. However, the transition mechanism of such unstable structures, as well as the real active sites and catalytic activity during the OER for these electrocatalysts, has not been understood yet; therefore a direct observation for the electrocatalytic water oxidation process, especially at nano or even angstrom scale, is urgently needed. In this work, by employing advanced Cs-corrected transmission electron microscopy (TEM), a step by step oxidational evolution of amorphous electrocatalyst CoSx into crystallized CoOOH in the OER has been in situ captured: irreversible conversion of CoSx to crystallized CoOOH is initiated on the surface of the electrocatalysts with a morphology change via Co(OH)2 intermediate during the OER measurement, where CoOOH is confirmed as the real active species. Besides, this transition process has also been confirmed by multiple applications of X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), in situ Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and other ex situ technologies. Moreover, on the basis of this discovery, a high-efficiency electrocatalyst of a nitrogen-doped graphene foam (NGF) coated by CoSx has been explored through a thorough structure transformation of CoOOH. In conclusion, we believe this in situ and in-depth observation of structural evolution in the OER measurement can provide insights into the fundamental understanding of the mechanism for the OER catalysts, thus enabling the more rational design of low-cost and high-efficient electrocatalysts for water splitting.

Research Organization:
SLAC National Accelerator Lab., Menlo Park, CA (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES)
Grant/Contract Number:
AC02-76SF00515; WUT: 2017 IVA 092; 2015CFA001; 51772234; 11704015; 21433007; 21573170; 51320105001; 2017-ZD-4
OSTI ID:
1493412
Journal Information:
ACS Nano, Vol. 12, Issue 12; ISSN 1936-0851
Publisher:
American Chemical Society (ACS)Copyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 256 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

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Cited By (26)

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Identification of Key Reversible Intermediates in Self‐Reconstructed Nickel‐Based Hybrid Electrocatalysts for Oxygen Evolution journal November 2019
A dinuclear iron complex as an efficient electrocatalyst for homogeneous water oxidation reaction journal January 2020
Recent Progress on Surface Reconstruction of Earth‐Abundant Electrocatalysts for Water Oxidation journal July 2019
Structural evolution induced by Au atom diffusion in Ag 2 S journal January 2019
Efficient and Durable 3D Self‐Supported Nitrogen‐Doped Carbon‐Coupled Nickel/Cobalt Phosphide Electrodes: Stoichiometric Ratio Regulated Phase‐ and Morphology‐Dependent Overall Water Splitting Performance journal September 2019
High-performance hierarchical ultrathin sheet-based CoOOH hollow nanospheres with rich oxygen vacancies for the oxygen evolution reaction journal January 2019
The Role of Non‐Metallic and Metalloid Elements on the Electrocatalytic Activity of Cobalt and Nickel Catalysts for the Oxygen Evolution Reaction journal September 2019
An Interfacial Electron Transfer on Tetrahedral NiS 2 /NiSe 2 Heterocages with Dual‐Phase Synergy for Efficiently Triggering the Oxygen Evolution Reaction journal December 2019
Transition metal electrocatalysts encapsulated into N-doped carbon nanotubes on reduced graphene oxide nanosheets: efficient water splitting through synergistic effects journal January 2019
N,S–Codoped hierarchical porous carbon spheres embedded with cobalt nanoparticles as efficient bifunctional oxygen electrocatalysts for rechargeable zinc-air batteries journal January 2019
Copper-based homogeneous and heterogeneous catalysts for electrochemical water oxidation journal January 2020
Interfacial Electronic Structure Modulation of NiTe Nanoarrays with NiS Nanodots Facilitates Electrocatalytic Oxygen Evolution journal April 2019
Modulating the Electronic Structure of Porous Nanocubes Derived from Trimetallic Metal–Organic Frameworks to Boost Oxygen Evolution Reaction Performance journal August 2019
Cation‐Modulated HER and OER Activities of Hierarchical VOOH Hollow Architectures for High‐Efficiency and Stable Overall Water Splitting journal September 2019
Facile synthesis of Co–Fe–B–P nanochains as an efficient bifunctional electrocatalyst for overall water-splitting journal January 2019
Intramolecular electronic coupling in porous iron cobalt (oxy)phosphide nanoboxes enhances the electrocatalytic activity for oxygen evolution journal January 2019
Cobalt nanoparticle-embedded nitrogen-doped carbon/carbon nanotube frameworks derived from a metal–organic framework for tri-functional ORR, OER and HER electrocatalysis journal January 2019
In Situ Transformation of Prussian‐Blue Analogue‐Derived Bimetallic Carbide Nanocubes by Water Oxidation: Applications for Energy Storage and Conversion journal September 2019
In situ fabrication of dynamic self-optimizing Ni 3 S 2 nanosheets as an efficient catalyst for the oxygen evolution reaction journal January 2020
Identification of Key Reversible Intermediates in Self‐Reconstructed Nickel‐Based Hybrid Electrocatalysts for Oxygen Evolution journal November 2019
Design strategies for developing non-precious metal based bi-functional catalysts for alkaline electrolyte based zinc–air batteries journal January 2019
A mesoporous C,N-co doped Co-based phosphate ultrathin nanosheet derived from a phosphonate-based-MOF as an efficient electrocatalyst for water oxidation journal January 2019
Tailoring of Metal Boride Morphology via Anion for Efficient Water Oxidation journal June 2019
Transition metal electrocatalysts encapsulated into N-doped carbon nanotubes on reduced graphene oxide nanosheets: efficient water splitting through synergistic effects text January 2019
The Role of Non-Metallic and Metalloid Elements on the Electrocatalytic Activity of Cobalt and Nickel Catalysts for the Oxygen Evolution Reaction text January 2019