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Title: Theory-driven design of high-valence metal sites for water oxidation confirmed using in situ soft X-ray absorption

Journal Article · · Nature Chemistry
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1038/nchem.2886· OSTI ID:1431449
ORCiD logo [1]; ORCiD logo [2]; ORCiD logo;  [3];  [4]; ORCiD logo [4];  [5];  [4];  [4];  [4];  [6];  [6];  [7]; ORCiD logo [8];  [7];  [3];  [9]; ORCiD logo [4]
  1. Univ. of Toronto, ON (Canada). Dept. of Electrical and Computer Engineering; Tianjin Univ. (China). Inst. of New-Energy Materials and School of Materials Science and Engineering
  2. Univ. of Toronto, ON (Canada). Dept. of Electrical and Computer Engineering; Fudan Univ., Shanghai (China). State Key Lab. of Molecular Engineering of Polymers, Dept. of Macromolecular Science and Lab. of Advanced Materials
  3. Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States). The Molecular Foundry
  4. Univ. of Toronto, ON (Canada). Dept. of Electrical and Computer Engineering
  5. Tianjin Univ. (China). Inst. of New-Energy Materials and School of Materials Science and Engineering; Brookhaven National Lab. (BNL), Upton, NY (United States). Center for Functional Nanomaterials (CFN)
  6. Canadian Light Sources, Inc., Saskatoon, SK (Canada)
  7. Fudan Univ., Shanghai (China). State Key Lab. of Molecular Engineering of Polymers, Dept. of Macromolecular Science and Lab. of Advanced Materials
  8. Brookhaven National Lab. (BNL), Upton, NY (United States). Center for Functional Nanomaterials (CFN)
  9. Tianjin Univ. (China). Inst. of New-Energy Materials and School of Materials Science and Engineering

The efficiency with which renewable fuels and feedstocks are synthesized from electrical sources is limited at present by the sluggish oxygen evolution reaction (OER) in pH-neutral media. Here, we took the view that generating transition metal sites with high valence at low applied bias should improve the activity of neutral OER catalysts. Using density functional theory, we find that the formation energy of desired Ni4+ sites is systematically modulated by incorporating judicious combinations of Co, Fe and non-metal phosphorus. Here we synthesized NiCoFeP oxyhydroxides and probed their oxidation kinetics by employing in situ soft X-ray absorption (sXAS). In situ sXAS studies of neutral-pH OER catalysts indicate ready promotion of Ni4+ under low overpotential conditions. NiCoFeP catalyst outperforms IrO2 and retains its performance following 100 hours of operation. We showcase NiCoFeP in a membrane-free CO2 electroreduction system that achieves a 1.99 V cell voltage at 10 mA cm-2, reducing CO2 into CO and oxidizing H2O to O2 with a 64% electricity-to-chemical-fuel efficiency.

Research Organization:
Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL), Upton, NY (United States); Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States). National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center (NERSC)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES); Ontario Research Fund; Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC); Canadian Inst. for Advanced Research (CIFAR); China Scholarship Council (CSC); National Basic Research Program of China; Shanghai Science and Technology Committee (STCSM); National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC); Univ. of Toronto (Canada); Canadian Light Sources, Inc., Saskatoon, SK (Canada); Beijing Synchrotron Radiation Facility; Southern Ontario Smart Computing Innovation Platform (SOSCIP)
Grant/Contract Number:
SC0012704; AC02-05CH11231; 20140625004; 2014CB931703; 16JC1400702; 14ZR14110200; 21503079; 201406745001
OSTI ID:
1431449
Report Number(s):
BNL-203448-2018-JAAM; TRN: US1802778
Journal Information:
Nature Chemistry, Vol. 10, Issue 2; ISSN 1755-4330
Publisher:
Nature Publishing GroupCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 373 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

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Cited By (78)

Atomic Iridium Incorporated in Cobalt Hydroxide for Efficient Oxygen Evolution Catalysis in Neutral Electrolyte journal March 2018
Identification of Facet‐Governing Reactivity in Hematite for Oxygen Evolution journal November 2018
Engineering NiO/NiFe LDH Intersection to Bypass Scaling Relationship for Oxygen Evolution Reaction via Dynamic Tridimensional Adsorption of Intermediates journal January 2019
Tracking Structural Self-Reconstruction and Identifying True Active Sites toward Cobalt Oxychloride Precatalyst of Oxygen Evolution Reaction journal January 2019
Self‐Supported Transition‐Metal‐Based Electrocatalysts for Hydrogen and Oxygen Evolution journal April 2019
Interfacial Electronic Structure Modulation of NiTe Nanoarrays with NiS Nanodots Facilitates Electrocatalytic Oxygen Evolution journal April 2019
Modulation of Molecular Spatial Distribution and Chemisorption with Perforated Nanosheets for Ethanol Electro‐oxidation journal May 2019
Hydration‐Effect‐Promoting Ni–Fe Oxyhydroxide Catalysts for Neutral Water Oxidation journal January 2020
Ultrasonic‐Assisted Synthesis of Amorphous Polyelemental Hollow Nanoparticles as Efficient and Stable Bifunctional Electrocatalysts for Overall Water Splitting journal July 2019
Theory‐Guided Defect Tuning through Topochemical Reactions for Accelerated Discovery of UVC Persistent Phosphors journal December 2019
Defective Carbon-CoP Nanoparticles Hybrids with Interfacial Charges Polarization for Efficient Bifunctional Oxygen Electrocatalysis journal February 2018
Selective Electrochemical H 2 O 2 Production through Two-Electron Oxygen Electrochemistry journal September 2018
2D Layered Double Hydroxides for Oxygen Evolution Reaction: From Fundamental Design to Application journal March 2019
Rational Design of Holey 2D Nonlayered Transition Metal Carbide/Nitride Heterostructure Nanosheets for Highly Efficient Water Oxidation journal February 2019
Non-3d Metal Modulation of a Cobalt Imidazolate Framework for Excellent Electrocatalytic Oxygen Evolution in Neutral Media journal December 2018
Nickel Doping in Atomically Thin Tin Disulfide Nanosheets Enables Highly Efficient CO 2 Reduction journal August 2018
Non-3d Metal Modulation of a Cobalt Imidazolate Framework for Excellent Electrocatalytic Oxygen Evolution in Neutral Media journal December 2018
A Lattice-Oxygen-Involved Reaction Pathway to Boost Urea Oxidation journal October 2019
Bimetal−Organic Framework Derived High‐Valence‐State Cu‐Doped Co 3 O 4 Porous Nanosheet Arrays for Efficient Oxygen Evolution and Water Splitting journal July 2019
Self-Templated Synthesis of Co 1- x S Porous Hexagonal Microplates for Efficient Electrocatalytic Oxygen Evolution journal February 2018
Electrochemical Carbon Dioxide Splitting journal February 2019
Recent Progress on Nickel‐Based Oxide/(Oxy)Hydroxide Electrocatalysts for the Oxygen Evolution Reaction journal November 2018
Iron‐Doped Nickel Molybdate with Enhanced Oxygen Evolution Kinetics journal December 2018
Exploring the Influence of Halogen Coordination Effect of Stable Bimetallic MOFs on Oxygen Evolution Reaction journal October 2019
Template-Directed Growth of Bimetallic Prussian Blue-Analogue Nanosheet Arrays and Their Derived Porous Metal Oxides for Oxygen Evolution Reaction journal October 2018
Electronic Structure Evolution in Tricomponent Metal Phosphides with Reduced Activation Energy for Efficient Electrocatalytic Oxygen Evolution journal August 2018
Recent Advances in the Development of Water Oxidation Electrocatalysts at Mild pH journal February 2019
Designing Highly Efficient and Long‐Term Durable Electrocatalyst for Oxygen Evolution by Coupling B and P into Amorphous Porous NiFe‐Based Material journal May 2019
Recent Progress on Surface Reconstruction of Earth‐Abundant Electrocatalysts for Water Oxidation journal July 2019
In Situ/Operando Characterization Techniques to Probe the Electrochemical Reactions for Energy Conversion journal April 2018
Molten-salt synthesis of porous La0.6Sr0.4Co0.2Fe0.8O2.9 perovskite as an efficient electrocatalyst for oxygen evolution journal April 2018
Efficient solar-driven electrocatalytic CO2 reduction in a redox-medium-assisted system journal November 2018
Unconventional CN vacancies suppress iron-leaching in Prussian blue analogue pre-catalyst for boosted oxygen evolution catalysis journal June 2019
A high-performance oxygen evolution catalyst in neutral-pH for sunlight-driven CO2 reduction journal September 2019
Overall electrochemical splitting of water at the heterogeneous interface of nickel and iron oxide journal December 2019
Lattice-strained metal–organic-framework arrays for bifunctional oxygen electrocatalysis journal January 2019
Uncovering The Role of Oxygen in Ni-Fe(OxHy) Electrocatalysts using In situ Soft X-ray Absorption Spectroscopy during the Oxygen Evolution Reaction journal February 2019
Catalyst electro-redeposition controls morphology and oxidation state for selective carbon dioxide reduction journal January 2018
Theory-guided Sn/Cu alloying for efficient CO2 electroreduction at low overpotentials journal December 2018
Identification of single-atom active sites in carbon-based cobalt catalysts during electrocatalytic hydrogen evolution journal December 2018
Efficient electrocatalytic conversion of carbon monoxide to propanol using fragmented copper journal February 2019
Confined local oxygen gas promotes electrochemical water oxidation to hydrogen peroxide journal January 2020
Electrocatalytic and photocatalytic hydrogen evolution integrated with organic oxidation journal January 2018
Direct observation of active catalyst surface phases and the effect of dynamic self-optimization in NiFe-layered double hydroxides for alkaline water splitting journal January 2019
Simple preparation of carbon–bimetal oxide nanospinels for high-performance bifunctional oxygen electrocatalysts journal January 2018
Highly wettable and metallic NiFe-phosphate/phosphide catalyst synthesized by plasma for highly efficient oxygen evolution reaction journal January 2018
Intensification of anodic charge transfer by contaminant degradation for efficient H 2 production journal January 2018
Nanostructured NiFe (oxy)hydroxide with easily oxidized Ni towards efficient oxygen evolution reactions journal January 2018
Unveiling the active sites of Ni–Fe phosphide/metaphosphate for efficient oxygen evolution under alkaline conditions journal January 2019
Trinuclear Ni( ii ) oriented highly dense packing and π-conjugation degree of metal–organic frameworks for efficient water oxidation journal January 2019
Efficient oxygen evolution on mesoporous IrO x nanosheets journal January 2019
In situ growth of layered double hydroxides on boehmite AlOOH for active and stable oxygen evolution in alkaline media journal January 2019
Modulated transition metal–oxygen covalency in the octahedral sites of CoFe layered double hydroxides with vanadium doping leading to highly efficient electrocatalysts journal January 2019
Novel nickel–cobalt phosphite with face-sharing octahedra derived electrocatalyst for efficient water splitting journal January 2019
An Fe-doped NiV LDH ultrathin nanosheet as a highly efficient electrocatalyst for efficient water oxidation journal January 2019
One-step electrodeposition of cerium-doped nickel hydroxide nanosheets for effective oxygen generation journal January 2019
Cobalt (oxy)hydroxide nanosheet arrays with exceptional porosity and rich defects as a highly efficient oxygen evolution electrocatalyst under neutral conditions journal January 2019
A new metal–organic open framework enabling facile synthesis of carbon encapsulated transition metal phosphide/sulfide nanoparticle electrocatalysts journal January 2019
Transition metal electrocatalysts encapsulated into N-doped carbon nanotubes on reduced graphene oxide nanosheets: efficient water splitting through synergistic effects journal January 2019
The 3d–5d orbital repulsion of transition metals in oxyhydroxide catalysts facilitates water oxidation journal January 2019
Rational construction of macroporous CoFeP triangular plate arrays from bimetal–organic frameworks as high-performance overall water-splitting catalysts journal January 2019
Photo-induced charge kinetic acceleration in ultrathin layered double hydroxide nanosheets boosts the oxygen evolution reaction journal January 2020
Rechargeable Zn–CO 2 Electrochemical Cells Mimicking Two‐Step Photosynthesis journal February 2019
CO 2 Overall Splitting by a Bifunctional Metal‐Free Electrocatalyst journal October 2018
Dopant-tuned stabilization of intermediates promotes electrosynthesis of valuable C3 products journal October 2019
Facet-dependent active sites of a single Cu2O particle photocatalyst for CO2 reduction to methanol journal November 2019
The formation of (NiFe)S 2 pyrite mesocrystals as efficient pre-catalysts for water oxidation journal January 2018
Recent advances in developing high-performance nanostructured electrocatalysts based on 3d transition metal elements journal January 2019
Tuning the morphological and electronic structure of amorphous nickel-based electrocatalysts by anion regulation for water oxidation in neutral media journal January 2019
Short O–O separation in layered oxide Na 0.67 CoO 2 enables an ultrafast oxygen evolution reaction journal November 2019
Highly active oxygen evolution integrated with efficient CO 2 to CO electroreduction journal November 2019
Transition metal electrocatalysts encapsulated into N-doped carbon nanotubes on reduced graphene oxide nanosheets: efficient water splitting through synergistic effects text January 2019
An Amorphous Nickel–Iron‐Based Electrocatalyst with Unusual Local Structures for Ultrafast Oxygen Evolution Reaction journal May 2019
CO 2 Overall Splitting by a Bifunctional Metal‐Free Electrocatalyst journal September 2018
A Lattice‐Oxygen‐Involved Reaction Pathway to Boost Urea Oxidation journal November 2019
Preparation of 2D material dispersions and their applications journal January 2018
Two-dimensional-related catalytic materials for solar-driven conversion of CO x into valuable chemical feedstocks journal January 2019
Uncovering near-free platinum single-atom dynamics during electrochemical hydrogen evolution reaction journal February 2020

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