Review
Materials Science, Multidisciplinary
Yuanhui Zuo, Wenchao Sheng, Wenquan Tao, Zhuo Li
Summary: One fundamental challenge in exploiting DMFCs is the preparation of inexpensive, high active electrocatalysts. There are mainly two types of dual-role electrocatalysts for MOR & ORR: Pt-support/co-catalyst (P-S/C) and catalyst/co-catalyst (C/C).
JOURNAL OF MATERIALS SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Wu Yujing, Zhou Hongxiu, Zhang Ao, Zhao Leqing
Summary: The research shows that flowing electrode direct methanol fuel cell (FEDMFC) effectively reduces methanol crossover rate while maintaining high power densities. Increasing flow rate can decrease crossover rate but will affect efficiency and stability, with optimal flow rate controlled at 1-3 sccm.
JOURNAL OF POWER SOURCES
(2022)
Article
Metallurgy & Metallurgical Engineering
Kaiwen Wang, Hanjun Zou, Jiazhi Meng, Chaogang Ban, Xue Liu, Jiangping Ma, Cong Wang, Liyong Gan, Xiaodong Han, Xiaoyuan Zhou
Summary: Fuel cells operated with a reformate fuel such as methanol have several critical issues that need to be addressed before they can be commercially available, including methanol crossover effect, CO-tolerance electrode, and efficient oxygen reduction electrocatalyst. A highly active and selective Mg-Co dualsite oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) single atom catalyst with porous N-doped carbon as the substrate is reported here, showing promising performance and stability. This research provides insights into the design of high-performance and durable fuel cell cathode electrocatalysts.
JOURNAL OF MAGNESIUM AND ALLOYS
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Zhe Han, Chizhou Tang, Feng Sha, Shan Tang, Jijie Wang, Can Li
Summary: In this study, ZnO-ZrO2 solid solution catalysts with ordered mesoporous structure were prepared by the EISA method, showing better performance in CO2 hydrogenation to methanol compared to catalysts prepared by co-precipitation due to larger specific surface areas and more reaction sites.
JOURNAL OF CATALYSIS
(2021)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Mark Robertson, Alejandro Guillen-Obando, Andrew Barbour, Paul Smith, Anthony Griffin, Zhe Qiang
Summary: This work pioneers a new manufacturing platform for producing ordered mesoporous materials through direct pyrolysis of crosslinked thermoplastic elastomer-based block copolymers. It demonstrates that this process can be extended to different polymer precursors for synthesizing mesoporous polymer, carbon, and silica. The obtained carbons possess large mesopores and sulfur-doped carbon framework, with tailorable pore textures upon varying the precursor identities.
NATURE COMMUNICATIONS
(2023)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
N. A. I. M. Ishak, S. K. Kamarudin, S. N. Timmiati, N. A. Karim, S. Basri
Summary: This study introduces a biosynthesis method of platinum from plant extracts, which reduces the cost of platinum production and shows enhanced efficiency and stability, with potential for commercialization.
JOURNAL OF ADVANCED RESEARCH
(2021)
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Zihao Xing, Jun Li, Shun Wang, Chenliang Su, Huile Jin
Summary: In this study, a simple heat-treatment method was used to synthesize a PtCu3/C intermetallic compound catalyst with lattice compression, showing high activity and stability. The high activity towards MOR was attributed to the tightening of the Pt-M bond and the prevention of Cu dissolution by Pt.
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Yu-Wen Chen, Han-Gen Chen, Man-Yin Lo, Yan-Chih Chen
Summary: Using H2O2 to modify carbon black can increase the amount of functional groups on the surface, thereby increasing the metal dispersion and decreasing metal particle size. NaH2PO2 as a reducing agent can suppress the growth of metal particles. The best modified carbon black catalyst is the one modified with 30% H2O2, and the methanol oxidation activity of the catalyst is mainly related to the particle size of PtRu metal, rather than the surface area and conductivity of carbon black.
Article
Engineering, Electrical & Electronic
Veni Keertheeswari Natarajan, Suba Lakshmi Madaswamy, Saikh Mohammad Wabaidur, Md Ataul Islam, Ragupathy Dhanusuraman
Summary: In this study, a comparatively less expensive and more abundant nickel supported on poly(diphenylamine) (PDPA) hybrid catalyst was successfully synthesized. The results obtained demonstrated that the Ni@PDPA hybrid catalyst exhibited efficient electrocatalytic activity for methanol oxidation, making it a potential substitute for noble metal catalyst in direct methanol fuel cells.
JOURNAL OF MATERIALS SCIENCE-MATERIALS IN ELECTRONICS
(2022)
Article
Materials Science, Ceramics
Lei Bai
Summary: Porous Pt and PtRu nanocrystals were synthesized by a facile chemical reduction method, exhibiting enhanced catalytic activity and stability.
JOURNAL OF SOL-GEL SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Biophysics
Liliana P. T. Carneiro, Nadia S. Ferreira, Ana P. M. Tavares, Alexandra M. F. R. Pinto, Adelio Mendes, M. Goreti F. Sales
Summary: This work presents an electrochemical sensor with a biomimetic plastic antibody film for the detection of carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA), integrated in the electrical circuit of a direct methanol fuel cell (DMFC). The sensor showed high sensitivity and selectivity, demonstrating linear responses in different media and operating well in the presence of human serum.
BIOSENSORS & BIOELECTRONICS
(2021)
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Chang Liu, Ana M. Geer, Christopher Webber, Charles B. Musgrave, Shunyan Gu, Grayson Johnson, Diane A. Dickie, Sonia Chabbra, Alexander Schnegg, Hua Zhou, Cheng-Jun Sun, Sooyeon Hwang, William A. Goddard, Sen Zhang, T. Brent Gunnoe
Summary: In this study, two cobalt complexes with nitrogen atom donors were synthesized and investigated for their electrocatalytic water oxidation activity when supported on ordered mesoporous carbon. Results showed that 6-FP-Co-OMC-1 exhibited higher activity compared to 5-FP-Co-OMC-2, attributed to higher turnover frequency and better structural stability. The study also revealed that the ligand structure influences the catalytic activity of supported molecular catalysts in electrocatalytic water oxidation.
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Aser Alaa Ahmed, Malik Al Labadidi, Ahmed T. Hamada, Mehmet Fatih Orhan
Summary: This study provides an overview of the fundamentals, principles, and evaluation factors of direct methanol fuel cells (DMFCs), and conducts a parametric investigation on a JENNY 600S DMFC. The study finds that increasing the operating temperature of the fuel cell improves its output voltage, but decreases its maximum efficiency limits.
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Mohammad Bagher Askari, Sadegh Azizi, Mohammad Taghi Tourchi Moghadam, Majid Seifi, Seyed Mohammad Rozati, Antonio Di Bartolomeo
Summary: The demands for alternative energy have driven the research on effective electrocatalysts in fuel cells. This study presents new nanocatalysts based on two binary transition metal oxides and reduced graphene oxide for methanol oxidation. The introduction of reduced graphene oxide significantly improves the electrocatalytic properties of the catalysts. The nanocatalysts exhibit promising performance for methanol fuel cell anodes, with high current density, low overvoltage, and good cyclic stability.
Article
Electrochemistry
Mohamed E. Abdelrahman, Hanguang Zhang, Gang Wu, Xianglin Li, Shawn Litster
Summary: In this study, a platinum group metal-free Fe-N-C catalyst derived from metal organic framework precursors was evaluated for the cathode side of a direct methanol fuel cell. The catalyst exhibited high performance under liquid methanol and air operation, with the cathode contributing significantly to the voltage loss. Improvements in catalyst layer fabrication were identified through nanoscale X-ray computed tomography.
ELECTROCHIMICA ACTA
(2022)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Miriam C. Rodriguez Gonzalez, Maximina Luis-Sunga, Ricardo M. Souto, Alberto Hernandez Creus, Elena Pastor, Gonzalo Garcia
Summary: The increasing demand for reliability in electronic contacts has led to the development of methods to protect metal surfaces from atmospheric corrosion agents. This study investigates the behavior of polycrystalline gold electrode modified by reverse micelles, showing strong adsorption of a monolayer of micelles on the gold substrate while still allowing electron tunneling conduction. However, this method is only suitable for long-term storage conditions and not for the operation of devices with such contacts.
Article
Electrochemistry
Sara Perez-Rodriguez, David Sebastian, Cinthia Alegre, Tanya Tsoncheva, Nartzislav Petrov, Daniela Paneva, Maria Jesus Lazaro
Summary: Biomass from agricultural by-products is being increasingly used as a cheap and abundant precursor for the development of active materials in efficient and environmentally friendly devices like fuel cells. This study found that the catalyst derived from peach stones exhibited a catalytic activity for the electrochemical oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) close to that of Pt/C in alkaline media, attributed to a high proportion of Fe-N-4 and nitrogen functionalities.
ELECTROCHIMICA ACTA
(2021)
Review
Chemistry, Physical
Pawel Stelmachowski, Joanna Duch, David Sebastian, Maria Jesus Lazaro, Andrzej Kotarba
Summary: This review paper discusses the latest research progress on carbon-based composite electrocatalysts for the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) in low temperature water electrolyzers for hydrogen production. It highlights the role of carbon-metal compound active phase interfaces and presents successful synthesis protocols of composite materials with different active phases. The paper also provides an overview of non-carbon electrocatalysts and metal-free carbon catalysts for OER.
Article
Engineering, Chemical
Jose Manuel Luque-Centeno, Maria Victoria Martinez-Huerta, David Sebastian, Sara Perez-Rodriguez, Maria Jesus Lazaro
Summary: This study demonstrates that composites of TiO2 and N-doped graphene can serve as active catalysts for oxygen reduction and evolution reactions in an alkaline environment, potentially offering a new opportunity for developing non-noble and promising electrocatalysts in energy storage technology.
INDUSTRIAL & ENGINEERING CHEMISTRY RESEARCH
(2021)
Article
Green & Sustainable Science & Technology
J. C. Ruiz-Cornejo, J. F. Vivo-Vilches, D. Sebastian, M. V. Martinez-Huerta, M. J. Lazaro
Summary: In this study, tantalum based catalysts supported on carbon nanofibers (CNF) were investigated for the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) for the first time. It was found that the catalyst exhibited the best OER activity and oxygen efficiency when using highly graphitic CNF synthesized at 700 degrees C and annealed at 800 degrees C. The ordering degree of CNF and low oxygen content in tantalum oxides were crucial for promoting oxygen production. The most active catalyst also demonstrated excellent durability.
Review
Chemistry, Applied
Gebrehiwet Abrham Gebreslase, Maria Victoria Martinez-Huerta, Maria Jesus Lazaro
Summary: This review highlights the recent progress in the design and development of bimetallic electrocatalysts for alkaline OER, providing insights into different types of electrocatalysts and monitoring techniques. The challenges and possible approaches to enhance OER performance are discussed.
JOURNAL OF ENERGY CHEMISTRY
(2022)
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Cinthia Alegre, David Sebastian, Maria Jesus Lazaro, Mariarita Girolamo, Antonino Salvatore Arico, Vincenzo Baglio
Summary: In this study, carbon xerogels doped with nitrogen or sulfur were investigated as counter electrodes for DSSCs. The introduction of heteroatoms such as nitrogen or sulfur led to improved efficiency compared to undoped material due to a decrease in charge transfer resistance.
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Consolato Rosmini, Tanya Tsoncheva, Daniela Kovatcheva, Nikolay Velinov, Hristo Kolev, Daniela Karashanova, Momtchil Dimitrov, Boyko Tsyntsarski, David Sebastian, Maria Jesus Lazaro
Summary: Ceria-iron oxide mesoporous materials were modified with Ni-Fe alloys and further transformed into ferrous carbides and metal alloys encapsulated within carbon nanofibers. The modified phases showed high electrochemical activity and low overpotential in the Oxygen Evolution Reaction. The morphological, textural and physicochemical properties of the samples were characterized in detail.
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Gebrehiwet Abrham Gebreslase, Maria Victoria Martinez-Huerta, David Sebastian, Maria Jesus Lazaro
Summary: In this study, nitrogen-doped carbon-coated CoFe electrocatalysts were synthesized and the effect of carbonized polydopamine on the physicochemical properties and electrochemical activity of CoFe catalysts was investigated. It was found that the catalyst prepared with 30% dopamine exhibited excellent catalytic activity and durability for oxygen evolution reaction.
JOURNAL OF COLLOID AND INTERFACE SCIENCE
(2022)
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Juan Carlos Ruiz-Cornejo, David Sebastian, Juan Ignacio Pardo, Maria Victoria Martinez-Huerta, Maria Jesus Lazaro
Summary: In this study, highly efficient, low-cost, and stable bifunctional catalysts for oxygen reduction and oxygen evolution reactions were synthesized. By incorporating sulfur into carbon nanofiber support, the catalytic activity of tantalum oxide nanoparticles was significantly improved, resulting in a decrease of overpotential for oxygen reduction and evolution reactions by 80mV, and demonstrating good stability.
JOURNAL OF POWER SOURCES
(2022)
Article
Energy & Fuels
C. Alegre, C. Busacca, A. Di Blasi, C. Cannilla, O. Barbera, V Antonucci, M. J. Lazaro, V Baglio
Summary: A MnCo2O4 catalyst supported on nitrogen-doped carbon nanofibers (CNF) obtained in a single-step electrospinning process exhibits good bifunctional electrocatalytic performance for oxygen in metal-air batteries. The catalyst features a 20 nm-particle-sized spinel structure and a large amount of oxidized metal species, which synergistically contribute to its remarkable reversibility and outperform most of the previous works. The catalyst shows proper activity and stability in cycling operations typical of rechargeable devices. Additionally, the easily-scalable electrospinning process used to produce the spinel-nanofiber-based catalyst represents an advance in positive electrodes for metal-air batteries.
JOURNAL OF ENERGY STORAGE
(2022)
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Nicolas Villanueva, Cinthia Alegre, Javier Rubin, Horacio A. Figueredo-Rodriguez, Rachel D. McKerracher, Carlos Ponce de Leon, Maria Jesus Lazaro
Summary: Iron-air systems are a promising energy storage technology, and this study addresses the challenges of passivation and hydrogen evolution reaction in iron anodes by using sulfur-modified mesoporous iron oxides as negative electrodes. The distribution of sulfur on the surface of the iron oxide is found to be crucial for enhancing electrode stability.
ACS APPLIED ENERGY MATERIALS
(2022)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Jesus Cebollada, David Sebastian, Maria Jesus Lazaro, Maria Victoria Martinez-Huerta
Summary: In this study, porous N-doped carbon nanocomposites (NC) were prepared by combining mussel-inspired polydopamine (PDA) chemistry and transition metals using a solvothermal carbonization strategy. The complexation between dopamine catechol groups and transition metal ions resulted in hybrid structures with embedded metal nanoparticles. Cu, Co, Mn, and Fe N-doped carbon nanocomposites showed efficient catalytic activity and excellent stability toward ORR. The N-doped carbon layers protected the metal nanoparticles, further enhancing the ORR performance of the composites.
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Antony Bazan-Aguilar, Gonzalo Garcia, Elena Pastor, Jose Luis Rodriguez, Angelica Maria Baena-Moncada
Summary: Green hydrogen is a valuable energy source for addressing the environmental impact of fossil fuel consumption. Large-scale production of green hydrogen can be achieved using anion exchange membrane water electrolyzer (AEMWE) with highly electroactive and low-cost catalysts for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). A novel catalyst was developed by an anhydrous etching procedure of commercial and low-cost Ni foam electrodes, which showed promising catalytic performance for HER with an onset potential close to the thermodynamic value. Further investigations using differential electrochemical mass spectrometry (DEMS) and Raman spectroelectrochemistry (Raman-SEC) provided insights into the reaction kinetics and mechanism of the HER at catalysts in alkaline medium.
APPLIED CATALYSIS B-ENVIRONMENTAL
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Nicolas Ignacio Villanueva-Martinez, Cinthia Alegre, David Sebastian, Nataly Orozco, Maria Jesus Lazaro
Summary: The effect of manganese oxide nanowires (MONW) combined with carbon nanostructures on Oxygen Reduction Reaction (ORR) and Oxygen Evolution Reaction (OER) was investigated. The addition of carbon nanostructures increased the number of electrons transferred in the ORR, showing a synergistic effect between carbon and manganese oxide structures. The composite MONW/rGO-CNF showed activity close to precious metal catalysts for ORR and OER, and demonstrated remarkable stability under challenging conditions.
