Article
Chemistry, Physical
Aggeliki Papavasiliou, Benedetta Oliani, Mirko Scanferla, Elias Sakellis, Antonella Glisenti, Paolo Canu, Fotis K. Katsaros
Summary: Mesoporous multicomponent materials based on alumina are synthesized through a facile evaporation-induced-self-assembly method. The addition of citric acid is found to be crucial in obtaining high mesoscopic order and notable homogeneity. After thermal aging, the distribution of metal oxides and nanoporous nature are well-preserved, with a parallel nucleation of ceria nanoparticles into the semi-crystalline framework. The catalytic activity is drastically enhanced, especially for the Cu-Ce-Al system, due to the material's structural reconstruction and its effect on metal-support interaction.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF HYDROGEN ENERGY
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Carlos E. Garcia-Vargas, Gregory Collinge, Dongmin Yun, Mal-Soon Lee, Valery Muravev, Ya-Qiong Su, Xavier Isidro Pereira-Hernandez, Dong Jiang, Vassiliki-Alexandra Glezakou, Emiel J. M. Hensen, Roger Rousseau, Abhaya K. Datye, Yong Wang
Summary: The study demonstrates that single atom copper catalysts prepared by high-temperature synthesis on ceria can maintain both activity and stability under variable reaction conditions by allowing charge transfer between active site and support, with the ability to dynamically respond to changes in catalyst environment.
Article
Materials Science, Ceramics
Duo Yu, Buhao Zhang, Jie Yin, Yichen Wang, Xuejian Liu, Michael J. Reece, Zhengren Huang
Summary: A pressureless two-step sintering method was utilized to densify high-entropy carbide, resulting in high density and good mechanical performance. The addition of phenolic resin improved the grain and pore structure while increasing the material density. After 8 hours of soaking, the material exhibited good mechanical properties with high flexural strength and hardness.
JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN CERAMIC SOCIETY
(2022)
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Yufeng Zhang, Wei Zhu, Jinjie Fang, Zhiyuan Xu, Yanrong Xue, Di Liu, Rui Sui, Qingqing Lv, Xuerui Liu, Yongsheng Wang, Wei Chen, Zhongbin Zhuang
Summary: Defective Ni3S2 nanowires were synthesized and showed high activity for electrochemical oxidation of ethanol to acetate. The high activity of Ni3S2 nanowires is attributed to the oriented attachment method used for synthesis and the presence of rich defects in the structure.
Article
Chemistry, Applied
Motaz Khawaji, Ines Graca, Ecaterina Ware, David Chadwick
Summary: AuxPdy nanoparticles prepared by colloidal synthesis and immobilised on ceria nanorods exhibit excellent catalytic performance in the selective oxidation of glucose, with activity strongly dependent on bimetallic composition. The catalyst shows good recyclability and high selectivity, with defects on the ceria nanorods surface serving as anchoring sites for the nanoparticles.
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Zhaoming Xia, Yue Yin, Jun Li, Hai Xiao
Summary: Due to limited degrees of freedom, stable single-atom catalysts (SACs) often have one energetically lower structure that dominates over other high-energy metastable structures. However, our experiments with SACs anchored on CeO2 reveal that the high-energy metastable structures, although in much lower proportion than the dominant lowest-energy structure, can greatly influence catalysis due to their unique coordination environment and oxidation state. This discovery challenges the common assumption in SAC studies and calls for new developments to explore and exploit catalysis via high-energy metastable structures.
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Susana Fernandez-Garcia, Miguel Tinoco, Ana Belen Hungria, Xiaowei Chen, Jose Juan Calvino, Juan Carlos Martinez-Munuera, Javier Gimenez-Manogil, Avelina Garcia-Garcia
Summary: The impact of morphology and reducibility on lanthanum-doped ceria nanocatalysts for NO oxidation reaction was assessed in this study. Lanthanum-doped ceria with controlled morphology (nanocubes and nanorods) was prepared using a hydrothermal method. The structural, compositional, and redox characterization of these catalysts was performed using various techniques. The results revealed a synergistic effect between lanthanum and ceria, and the degree of enhancement depended on the morphology and the amount of lanthanum incorporated into CeO2. These findings can aid in optimizing ceria-based nanocatalysts for the removal of NOx emissions from exhaust gases.
Article
Materials Science, Ceramics
Yu Sun, Liang Zhao, Rui-Fen Guo, Ping Shen
Summary: This study proposes a method involving liquid-phase-assisted ultrafast high-temperature sintering (UHS) with the addition of Cr3C2 for obtaining nearly full density of TiC ceramics. The effects of sintering parameters and the Cr3C2 content on the density and microstructure were investigated, and the main causes of rapid densification were identified as particle rearrangement, dissolution-reprecipitation, and weak evaporation of Cr. Additionally, the addition of Cr3C2 significantly increased the hardness and elastic modulus of TiC.
JOURNAL OF THE EUROPEAN CERAMIC SOCIETY
(2023)
Article
Optics
Lei Zhang, Yuyu He, Xinyue Dong, Junqing Guo, Zhansheng Gao, Zhaochao Liu, Jiabiao Chen, Yingtao Zhao, Zhengyang Zhou, Jun Yin, Xuewen Fu, Feng Luo, Huixia Fu, Jinxiong Wu
Summary: The study successfully synthesized a series of bismuth oxyselenide semiconductors with appealing electronic applications. The ultrathin Bi3O2.5Se2 photodetectors demonstrated ultrafast response time, high responsivity, and large detectivity.
LASER & PHOTONICS REVIEWS
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Maila Danielis, Luis E. Betancourt, Ivan Orozco, Nuria J. Divins, Jordi Llorca, Jose A. Rodriguez, Sanjaya D. Senanayake, Sara Colussi, Alessandro Trovarelli
Summary: The milling of Palladium acetate and CeO2 under dry conditions results in robust and environmentally friendly catalysts with excellent methane oxidation activity. The characterization techniques used in this study identified the presence of Pd-0/Pd2+ species with different degrees of interaction with ceria (Ce3+/Ce4+), which are believed to be responsible for the enhanced catalytic activity. This study provides insight into the mechanistic understanding of the catalytic performance of Pd/CeO2 catalysts prepared by dry milling.
APPLIED CATALYSIS B-ENVIRONMENTAL
(2021)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Jian Zhang, Dezhi Zhu, Jianfeng Yan, Chang-An Wang
Summary: A new ultrafast laser-induced SMSI strategy has been proposed for constructing SMSI on a CeO2-supported Pt system, leading to enhanced activity and stability of the catalyst through the formation of surface defects and thin overlayer. This strategy can be extended to other noble metal systems and non-reducible oxide supports, providing a universal approach for engineering high-performance supported noble metal catalysts.
NATURE COMMUNICATIONS
(2021)
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Linyi Li, Renjun Tan, Shizhong Luo, Chengfa Jiang, Fangli Jing
Summary: In this study, Fe, Ni, Mn, and Ti were directly doped into the CeO2 lattice by hydrothermal method to form solid solution catalysts. Various techniques were used to study the structural evolution and properties of the catalysts. It was found that the incorporation of metal elements distorted the lattice and resulted in differences in redox, oxygen activity, basicity, and surface properties. The catalytic conversion of ethane with CO2 showed different features depending on the doped metal atoms. The number and activity of lattice oxygen played a dominant role in influencing the activity and selectivity. The solid solution catalysts also exhibited good coke resistance.
APPLIED CATALYSIS A-GENERAL
(2022)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Weiming Wan, Julian Geiger, Nikolay Berdunov, Mauricio Lopez Luna, See Wee Chee, Nathan Daelman, Nuria Lopez, Shamil Shaikhutdinov, Beatriz Roldan Cuenya
Summary: Oxygen plasma pre-treatment can anchor Pt single atoms on oxide supports, making them active and resistant towards sintering in the CO oxidation reaction.
ANGEWANDTE CHEMIE-INTERNATIONAL EDITION
(2022)
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Bing Lu, Lingxiao Lv, Xinqun Zhang, Yang Zhao, Qing Chen, Huhu Cheng, Liangti Qu
Summary: Defective carbon materials, especially graphene, have shown great potential in energy conversion and storage due to their unique properties. Traditional preparation methods are destructive and tedious, while a new high-temperature hydrothermal method presented in this work allows for the synthesis of high defect density graphene materials with superior electrocatalytic activity and high capacitance.
JOURNAL OF POWER SOURCES
(2021)
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Bangfen Wang, Xiufeng Li, Yuhai Sun, Hailin Xiao, Mingli Fu, Shuhua Li, Hong Liang, Zhiwei Qiao, Daiqi Ye
Summary: Pt/CeO2 catalysts were modified with non-thermal plasma to enhance the catalytic activity for toluene oxidation. The plasma treatment affected the Pt particle size, CeO2-rod length, oxygen vacancy concentration, and Pt/CeO2 reducibility. The impact of plasma on Pt atoms was more significant than on oxygen vacancies.
CATALYSIS SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Xinyan Zhou, Kexin Song, Yu Feng, Chao Jiang, Zhongjun Chen, Zizhun Wang, Nailin Yue, Xin Ge, Wei Zhang, Weitao Zheng
Summary: This study successfully prepared FeCu-NC catalyst with dual-metal sites by regulating the d-band configuration of the metal center. The catalyst showed excellent activity and stability in oxygen reduction reaction (ORR), and demonstrated good performance in zinc-air batteries.
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Tianyi Xu, Ruoyu Li, Lei Zhang, Dongxu Jiao, Yilong Dong, Ming Gong, Dantong Zhang, Jinchang Fan, Dewen Wang, Yanhua Liu, Xiao Zhao, Wei Zhang, Weitao Zheng, Xiaoqiang Cui
Summary: Modulating the surface electron distribution is crucial for enhancing the adsorption ability in catalytic processes. In this study, we successfully construct carbon shell wrapped copper bromide nanorods (CuBr@C) using chemical vapour deposition with hexabromobenzene (HBB) as the precursor. By bridging the inner and outer layers through the bridge Br atom, the CuBr@C exhibits excellent electrocatalytic activity for the hydrogen evolution reaction. Density functional theory calculations further reveal that the bridge Br atoms induce aggregation of delocalized electrons on the C-shell surfaces, leading to optimized hydrogen adsorption energy.
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Qiong Wu, Yanhui Xue, Shaofei Chao, Fufa Wu, Muhammad Sufyan Javed, Lu Li, Wei Zhang
Summary: Ti3C2 MXene is a promising energy storage material with metallic conductivity and layered structure. However, in long cycle charging-discharging conditions, its layers often stack, causing structural collapse and a significant decrease in specific capacitance. By utilizing the superlattice effect of magic angle graphene, we successfully regulated the rotation mismatch on the Ti3C2 lattice and constructed a hexagonal few-layered Ti3C2 free-standing film with Moire-superlattices. This discovery not only solves the problem of structural collapse but also greatly improves the specific capacitance of Ti3C2 as a supercapacitor electrode, enabling ultra-stable energy storage in a neutral aqueous electrolyte. We also reveal the formation mechanism of rotating Moire pattern through microscopy and analysis, providing experimental and theoretical support for future development of Moire-superlattice structures in various MXene phases.
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Elena Marzia Sala, Nicola Mazzanti, Francesco M. Chiabrera, Simone Sanna, Mogens B. Mogensen, Peter V. Hendriksen, Zhongtao Ma, Soren B. Simonsen, Christodoulos Chatzichristodoulou
Summary: Ceria (CeO2) shows great potential in reducing CO2 emissions and developing efficient and durable fuel electrodes for SOECs, due to its promising electrocatalytic properties and ability to tolerate impurities.
PHYSICAL CHEMISTRY CHEMICAL PHYSICS
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Hang Li, Walber H. Brito, Eduardo B. Guedes, Alla Chikina, Rasmus T. Dahm, Dennis V. Christensen, Shinhee Yun, Francesco M. Chiabrera, Nicholas C. Plumb, Ming Shi, Nini Pryds, Milan Radovic
Summary: Relatively simple surface preparation can reconstruct the 2D electron gas (2DEG) at the SrTiO3 surface, leading to a Lifshitz-like transition. Experimental methods combined with ab initio calculations reveal that the modulation of the surface band structures can be achieved via transforming the chemical composition at the atomic scale. Additionally, ARPES experiments demonstrate that vacuum ultraviolet light can effectively alter the band renormalization of the 2DEG system and control the electron-phonon interaction.
ADVANCED FUNCTIONAL MATERIALS
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Dae-Sung Park, Aurora Diana Rata, Rasmus Tindal Dahm, Kanghyun Chu, Yulin Gan, Igor Maznichenko, Sergey Ostanin, Felix Trier, Hionsuck Baik, Woo Seok Choi, Chel-Jong Choi, Young Heon Kim, Gregory Jon Rees, Haflidi Petur Gislason, Pawel Adam Buczek, Ingrid Mertig, Mihai Adrian Ionescu, Arthur Ernst, Kathrin Doerr, Paul Muralt, Nini Pryds
Summary: Complex oxide heterointerfaces offer numerous physical properties and functionalities, leading to emerging technologies. Vertically aligned nanostructure (VAN) films, formed through a self-assembling bottom-up deposition method, show great promise in terms of structural flexibility and property tunability. This study introduces a new approach of bottom-up self-assembly using a mixture of 2D layer-by-layer film growth and 3D VAN film growth. The resulting two-phase nanocomposite thin films, based on LaAlO3:LaBO3, grown on a lattice-mismatched SrTiO3001 (001) single crystal, exhibit coexistence of multiple interfacial properties, including 2D electron gas and magnetic anisotropy. This approach offers multidimensional film heterostructures, enriching emergent phenomena for multifunctional applications.
ADVANCED MATERIALS
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Analytical
Di Liu, Huimin Gao, Wenji Jiang, Su Yan, Hao Liu, Junjie Chen, Sisi Wen, Wei Zhang, Xu Wang, Bing Zhao, Wei Song
Summary: In this study, three-dimensional Ag aerogel-supported Hg single-atom catalysts were used as an efficient SERS substrate for monitoring enhanced oxidase-like reactions. The effect of Hg2+ concentrations on the SERS properties of 3D Hg/Ag aerogel networks was investigated, and an optimized addition of Hg2+ resulted in specific enhancement. The formation of Ag-supported Hg SACs was confirmed using HAADF-STEM imaging and XPS measurement, and the oxidase-like catalytic mechanism of Hg/Ag SACs was revealed using DFT. This research provides a mild synthetic strategy for fabricating Ag aerogel-supported Hg single atoms with promising prospects in various catalytic fields.
ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY
(2023)
Article
Engineering, Environmental
Jian Wang, Yan Zhang, Jiwen Si, Wei Zhang, Qing Liang, Wenqing Li, Bo Jin, Shiding Miao
Summary: A series of NiFe-layered double hydroxides/halloysite (NiFe-LDH/Hal) composites were fabricated using calcined halloysites as supports. The composites displayed different morphologies and CO2 adsorption capacities, with the sample NiFe-LDH/Hal600 showing a 3D hierarchical structure and superior CO2 adsorption capacity. The clay-based composites exhibited satisfying recyclability of CO2 adsorption after 25 cycles.
CHEMICAL ENGINEERING JOURNAL
(2023)
Article
Optics
Chaoquan Hu, Zijian Zhou, Xiaoyu Zhang, Kaiyu Guo, Can Cui, Yuankai Li, Zhiqing Gu, Wei Zhang, Liang Shen, Jiaqi Zhu
Summary: The challenge in designing far-infrared transparent conductors (FIRTC) is to achieve both high plasma absorption edge (λp) and high conductivity (o). This paper breaks the trade-off between high conductivity and plasma absorption edge by increasing the neglected constant εopt, and successfully develops the material family of FIRTC with εopt > 15 and λp > 15 μm. These FIRTC materials are mainly octahedrally-coordinated heavy-metal chalcogenides and their solid solutions with shallow-level defects, which exhibit a high εopt due to the formation of electron-deficiency multicenter bonds resulting in the great electron-polarization effect. The development of FIRTC opens up new possibilities for far-infrared optoelectronics.
LIGHT-SCIENCE & APPLICATIONS
(2023)
Review
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Haiwu Zhang, Milica Vasiljevic, Achilles Bergne, Dae-Sung Park, Andrea R. Insinga, Shinhee Yun, Vincenzo Esposito, Nini Pryds
Summary: Complex oxides with diverse functionalities are crucial for cutting-edge electronics, energy, and information technologies. This review explores how to engineer thermodynamic variables to break the symmetry of centrosymmetric oxides and achieve/improve their electromechanical properties. The mechanisms used to break the inherent symmetry of conventional materials and discover novel applications are discussed. Accessing hidden phases could uncover opportunities for exotic properties like piezoelectricity and pyroelectricity. This review not only reports on engineering nonpolar oxides but also has implications for manipulating polar functional materials for better performance.
ADVANCED MATERIALS INTERFACES
(2023)
Article
Materials Science, Multidisciplinary
Taowen Dong, Tingting Qin, Wei Zhang, Yaowen Zhang, Zhuoran Feng, Yuxiang Gao, Zhongyu Pan, Zixiang Xia, Yan Wang, Chunming Yang, Peng Wang, Weitao Zheng
Summary: The interaction between the electrode and the electric double layer (EDL) significantly influences the energy storage mechanism. By studying the popular alpha-Fe2O3 electrode and the EDL interaction, we find that the energy storage mechanism of the electrode can be controlled by modulating the EDL.
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Shuo Chen, Miao Xia, Xuefei Zhang, Lisun Pei, Zijia Li, Xin Ge, Mei-Jin Lin, Wei Zhang, Zailai Xie
Summary: This study develops a method for synthesizing single-atom copper embedded within carbon catalysts and demonstrates their potential in electrochemical reduction of carbon dioxide. The optimized catalysts show high CO Faradaic efficiency and current density. The presence of active sites is confirmed by extended X-ray absorption fine structure analysis.
JOURNAL OF COLLOID AND INTERFACE SCIENCE
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Juntao Liu, Jingang Qi, Wenwen Yu, Xin Hu, Sifan Qiao, Jian Shang, Liang Liu, Zuofu Zhao, Lidan Tang, Wei Zhang
Summary: Pulsed electric current treatment can effectively promote the exsolution of metal nanoparticles on perovskite oxide surfaces under a nonreducing atmosphere, leading to significantly improved electrochemical properties.
JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL CHEMISTRY LETTERS
(2023)
Article
Materials Science, Multidisciplinary
Victor Rosendal, Walber H. Brito, Milan Radovic, Alla Chikina, Mads Brandbyge, Nini Pryds, Dirch H. Petersen
Summary: This study maps the energy landscape of octahedral tilting in Strontium niobate using density functional theory calculations, and finds that compressive strain induces tilting around the out-of-plane axis, while tensile strain induces tilting around the in-plane axes. The competition between in-phase and out-of-phase tilting in SrNbO3 allows for tuning the thermoelectric and optical properties. The study also shows how the tilt angle and mode affect the Seebeck coefficient and the plasma frequency due to changes in the band structure.
PHYSICAL REVIEW MATERIALS
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Junyan Li, Ming Lu, Weijia Zheng, Wei Zhang
Summary: MXenes are two-dimensional materials with unique structures and properties, which have attracted significant scientific interest. Ion intercalation, as an important mechanism, plays a crucial role in regulating the electronic and chemical properties of MXene materials. This review provides an overview of the interaction events between ions and MXenes, including advanced characterization techniques, influencing factors, mechanisms, and functionalization roles of ion intercalation.
ENERGY STORAGE MATERIALS
(2024)
