Chun-Chao Hou

Ultrafine CoP Nanoparticles Supported on Carbon Nanotubes as Highly Active Electrocatalyst for Both Oxygen and Hydrogen Evolution in Basic Media.

The development of low-cost and highly active electrocatalysts for two half reactions: H2 and O2 evolution reactions (HER and OER), is still a huge challenge to realize water splitting. Herein, we report that CoP nanoparticles (NPs) can act as a bifunctional catalyst for both HER and OER. Particularly, ultrafine CoP NPs decorated on N-doped multiwalled carbon nanotube (MWCNT) exhibit remarkable catalytic performance for OER in 0.1 M NaOH aqueous solution, with a low onset overpotential of 290 mV, a Tafel slope of 50 mV dec(-1), an overpotential (η) of 330 mV at 10 mA cm(-2), and approximately 100% Faradaic efficiency, paralleling the performance of state-of-the-art Co-based OER catalysts including Co3O4, CoSe2, and Co-Pi. The hybrid catalyst is capable of maintaining a high catalytic current density for at least 10 h without any loss of catalytic activity. Meanwhile, the noble-metal-free catalyst also shows good activity and duarability for HER under the same basic condition.

Cobalt phosphide as a highly active non-precious metal cocatalyst for photocatalytic hydrogen production under visible light irradiation

Cobalt phosphide (Co2P) is found, for the first time, to be a novel cocatalyst for efficient photocatalytic hydrogen evolution for a system containing CdS nanorods as a photocatalyst and DL-mandelic acid as an electron donor in water. Under optimal conditions, the H2-production rate can reach up to 19 373 μmolh−1 g−1 after 10 h of LED light irradiation. Meanwhile, DL-mandelic acid can be oxidized to benzoylformic acid by the photo-generated holes of CdS nanorods, providing a green and economic way to synthesize benzoylformic acid from DL-mandelic acid.

Incorporation of a [Ru(dcbpy)(bpy)2]2+ photosensitizer and a Pt(dcbpy)Cl2 catalyst into metal–organic frameworks for photocatalytic hydrogen evolution from aqueous solution

A molecular photosensitizer [Ru(dcbpy)(bpy)2]2+ (dcbpy = 2,2′-bipyridyl-5,5′-dicarboxylic acid) and a proton reduction catalyst Pt(dcbpy)Cl2 were successfully incorporated into a highly robust metal–organic framework (MOF) of Zr(IV)6O4(OH)4(bpdc)6 (bpdc = 4,4′-biphenyldicarboxylic acid) by making use of a mix-and-match approach. The molecular integrity of the Ru and Pt complexes within the MOFs was demonstrated by a variety of techniques, including XRD, BET, TGA, SEM, TEM, HAADF-STEM, EDX, DRUS and XPS. This di-component Ru–Pt@UIO-67 MOF assembly allows a facile arrangement of the photosensitizer and the reduction catalyst with close spatial proximity, promotes the electron transfer between them, and thus leads to a significantly improved hydrogen evolution activity in aqueous solution at pH 5.0 upon visible light irradiation. This Ru–Pt@UIO-67 system represents the first example of MOFs functionalized with two different transition metal complexes, which can be used as a photosensitizer and catalyst, respectively, for hydrogen generation from water.

Ternary Ni–Co–P nanoparticles as noble-metal-free catalysts to boost the hydrolytic dehydrogenation of ammonia-borane

The development of high-efficiency and low-cost catalysts for hydrogen release from chemical hydrogen-storage materials is essential for the hydrogen-economy paradigm. Herein, we report a facile and controllable method to fabricate a series of Co-doped nickel phosphides and their corresponding nanohybrids with graphene oxide (GO) as highly efficient, robust and noble-metal-free catalysts for ammonia borane hydrolysis. The incorporation of Co into Ni2P effectively optimizes the electronic structures of Ni2−xCoxP catalysts to enhance their interaction with AB and simultaneously facilitate the hydroxyl activation of AB, resulting in the reduction of the reaction energy barrier and thus substantial improvement of the catalytic rate.

Self‐Supported Cu‐Based Nanowire Arrays as Noble‐Metal‐Free Electrocatalysts for Oxygen Evolution

Crystalline Cu-based nanowire arrays (NWAs) including Cu(OH)2 , CuO, Cu2 O, and CuOx are facilely grown on Cu foil and are found to act as highly efficient, low-cost, and robust electrocatalysts for the oxygen evolution reaction (OER). Impressively, this noble-metal-free 3 D Cu(OH)2 -NWAs/Cu foil electrode shows the highest catalytic activity with a Tafel slope of 86 mV dec(-1) , an overpotential (η) of about 530 mV at ∼10 mA cm(-2) (controlled-potential electrolysis method without iR correction) and almost 100 % Faradic efficiency, paralleling the performance of the state-of-the-art RuO2 OER catalyst in 0.1 m NaOH solution (pH 12.8). To the best of our knowledge, this work represents one of the best results ever reported on Cu-based OER systems.

Rapid synthesis of ultralong Fe(OH)3:Cu(OH)2 core–shell nanowires self-supported on copper foam as a highly efficient 3D electrode for water oxidation

One-dimensional core-shell nanowire materials have recently received great attention as durable catalysts for water splitting. Herein we report the facile and rapid synthesis of ultralong Fe(OH)3:Cu(OH)2 core-shell nanowires grown in situ on an open 3D electrode to function as a highly efficient electrocatalyst for water oxidation. It only requires an overpotential of ∼365 mV to reach a 10 mA cm-2 current density in 1.0 M KOH. As far as we know, this shows the best result amongst Cu-based heterogeneous OER systems reported to date.