Article
Energy & Fuels
Xiaoke Zhang, Qianfeng Liu, Zhao Yan, Shimin Liu, Erdong Wang
Summary: In this study, CuO/Co3O4@CNTs catalysts were successfully prepared for bifunctional oxygen electrocatalysts using a facile and scalable coprecipitation strategy. This unique strategy allowed the uniform growth of CuO/Co3O4 nanoparticles on CNTs and the simultaneous pyrolysis process resulted in the generation of ultrafine CuO/Co3O4 heterostructures. Due to an abundance of heterostructures, oxygen vacancies and unsaturated chemical bonds were generated in CuO/Co3O4. As a result, CuO/Co3O4@CNTs exhibited bifunctional activity with a Delta E of 0.78 V and good stability, maintaining 1000 hours of charge and discharge cycles.
JOURNAL OF ENERGY STORAGE
(2023)
Article
Nanoscience & Nanotechnology
Wenxian Liu, Xiaojing Dai, Wei Guo, Jiawei Tang, Jinxiu Feng, Dong Zheng, Ruilian Yin, Yuxi Wang, Wenbin Que, Fangfang Wu, Wenhui Shi, Xiehong Cao
Summary: Developing highly active and stable oxygen catalysts is crucial for the commercialization of Znair batteries. In this study, heterostructured catalysts with controlled crystalline phases of molybdenum carbide were prepared, and the electronic configurations of cobalt and molybdenum centers were adjusted. The resulting catalysts exhibited excellent performance in Znair batteries.
ACS APPLIED MATERIALS & INTERFACES
(2023)
Article
Engineering, Environmental
Peng Rao, Yalin Liu, Ya-Qiong Su, Mingjun Zhong, Kun Zhang, Junming Luo, Jing Li, Chunman Jia, Yijun Shen, Chong Shen, Xinlong Tian
Summary: This study developed a unique 3D core-shell nanostructure bifunctional oxygen catalyst with excellent electrocatalytic performance and stability, showing promising applications in metal-air batteries.
CHEMICAL ENGINEERING JOURNAL
(2021)
Review
Materials Science, Multidisciplinary
A. K. Worku, D. W. Ayele, N. G. Habtu
Summary: This paper focuses on the importance of engineering efficient oxygen electrocatalysts for electrically rechargeable zinc-air batteries to drive oxygen electrochemical reactions, while summarizing the current technical challenges and future developments.
MATERIALS TODAY ADVANCES
(2021)
Review
Chemistry, Physical
Minghe Luo, Wenping Sun, Ben Bin Xu, Hongge Pan, Yinzhu Jiang
Summary: This review emphasizes the importance of heterostructured air electrocatalysts developed through interface engineering in enhancing oxygen electrocatalysis performance, and highlights the potential relationship between interface chemistry and oxygen electrocatalysis kinetics.
ADVANCED ENERGY MATERIALS
(2021)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Chang-Xin Zhao, Jia-Ning Liu, Juan Wang, Ding Ren, Jia Yu, Xiao Chen, Bo-Quan Li, Qiang Zhang
Summary: In this study, a noble-metal-free bifunctional electrocatalyst CoNC@LDH was fabricated, exhibiting outstanding performance in rechargeable zinc-air batteries. The catalyst showed remarkable bifunctional activity surpassing the traditional noble-metal-based benchmarks. Additionally, the catalyst achieved long lifespan and excellent cycling performance in the batteries.
ADVANCED MATERIALS
(2021)
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Sangwoo Kim, Ji-Won Jung, DongHoon Song, Su-Ho Cho, Jiyeon Kim, Jun Kyu Kim, DongHwan Oh, Hainan Sun, EunAe Cho, Il-Doo Kim, WooChul Jung
Summary: The lack of bifunctional features of perovskite oxide for oxygen evolution reaction (OER) and oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) limits its use as a cathode catalyst for rechargeable Zn-air batteries (ZABs). In this study, cobalt-based nanoparticle decorated Sr0.95Nb0.1Co0.7Fe0.2O3-delta (S0.95NCF) is presented as a novel air-electrode catalyst, achieving significantly enhanced activity for OER and ORR. The newly designed catalyst also exhibits remarkable charge/discharge durability, making it a promising candidate for ZABs cathode.
APPLIED CATALYSIS B-ENVIRONMENTAL
(2022)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Zhijun Li, Siqi Ji, Chang Xu, Leipeng Leng, Hongxue Liu, J. Hugh Horton, Lei Du, Jincheng Gao, Cheng He, Xiaoying Qi, Qian Xu, Junfa Zhu
Summary: Researchers have developed a new catalyst consisting of atomically dispersed iron atoms supported on a mesoporous nitrogen-doped carbon material. This catalyst exhibits remarkable activity for both oxygen reduction and evolution reactions in a wide pH range. The zinc-air battery assembled with this catalyst outperforms the traditional Pt/C+RuO2 counterpart in terms of power density, capacity, and cycling stability. These findings highlight the importance of electronic structure engineering of metal sites in catalytic activity.
ADVANCED MATERIALS
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Lei Wan, Ziang Xu, Qingbin Cao, Yiwen Liao, Baoguo Wang, Kai Liu
Summary: The study proposes an air-breathing strategy to improve the energy conversion efficiency and durability of zinc-air batteries (ZABs) by significantly enlarging triple-interfaces. By dipcoating the aerophilic perfluorochemical compounds (PFC) and amphiphilic ionomers into the self-supported electrodes, the study demonstrates high power density and long-cycling durability for the ZABs.
Article
Nanoscience & Nanotechnology
Yuyang Wang, Yaping Gao, Lixia Ma, Yanzhong Xue, Zong-Huai Liu, Huali Cui, Nan Zhang, Ruibin Jiang
Summary: In this study, Fe-N4-C and NiFe-LDH clusters were successfully integrated into a NiFe-LDH/Fe,N-CB electrocatalyst. The electrocatalyst showed excellent bifunctional activity for the oxygen reduction reaction and the oxygen evolution reaction, making it suitable for large-scale commercialization of rechargeable Zn-air batteries.
ACS APPLIED MATERIALS & INTERFACES
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Mei Wang, Yi Long, Huifang Zhao, Wenjuan Zhang, Liyong Wang, Ruifeng Dong, Hua Hou, Huiqi Wang, Xiaoguang Wang
Summary: A scalable dealloying strategy was proposed to fabricate highly efficient Al-NiCo2O4 catalyst, which exhibited excellent catalytic activities for oxygen reduction and evolution reactions. It showed promising performance as a cathode catalyst in rechargeable zinc-air batteries, with high capacity, competitive power density, and long cycling stability.
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Zeming Lu, Hang Zhou, Bin Qian, Shun Wang, Yifeng Zheng, Lin Ge, Han Chen
Summary: In this study, A-site Y and B-site Fe co-doped La0.85Y0.15-Ni0.7Fe0.3O3 perovskite catalyst was prepared and evaluated for zinc-air batteries. The co-doping significantly improved the oxygen reduction and oxygen evolution reactions of LaNiO3. The La0.85Y0.15Ni0.7Fe0.3O3 catalyst exhibited high performance and stability, making it a promising bifunctional air electrode catalyst for zinc-air batteries.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF HYDROGEN ENERGY
(2023)
Review
Chemistry, Physical
Zheng Zhu, Qiangqiang Song, Baokai Xia, Lili Jiang, Jingjing Duan, Sheng Chen
Summary: This review article discusses the progress and mechanistic analyses of perovskites for Zinc-air batteries (ZAB), emphasizing the electrode manipulation methods of perovskites in battery devices. Perovskites have attracted extensive interests due to their environmentally friendly properties, cheapness, and excellent electrocatalytic performances, and they are expected to play an important role in future energy storage and conversion applications.
Article
Environmental Sciences
Pengxiang Zhang, Kang Sun, Yanyan Liu, Benji Zhou, Shuqi Li, Jingjing Zhou, Ao Wang, Lixia Xie, Baojun Li, Jianchun Jiang
Summary: This research creatively assembled two-dimensional nickel-iron hydroxide nanosheets on wood-derived biochar, creating a highly active and stable cathode catalyst. The resulting NiFe-LDH@NC exhibited excellent discharge performance and cycling stability in zinc-air batteries, showing promising potential for various applications.
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Yaru Wang, Peng Zhang, Shuxin Zhang, Yukun Sun, Jiulin Wang, Xiaoqin Zeng, Yanna Nuli
Summary: The activity of catalysts in air cathodes greatly affects the electrochemical performance of primary Mg-air batteries. Perovskites have attracted attention for their high catalytic activity in oxygen reduction reaction (ORR), unique structure, simple synthesis, and low cost. This study reports a series of La1-xBax-Ni0.5Mn0.5O3 (x = 0.1, 0.2, 0.3, 0.4, 0.5) catalysts, which show a volcano curve in ORR catalytic performance with the increase of doping amount, and the highest activity is achieved at 30% Ba2+ content. Experimental and computational results explain the enhancement in terms of O2 adsorption capacity, oxygen vacancies formation, increased content of adsorption active site, and the upshift of Mn-3d band center toward the Fermi level, thereby facilitating the O2 adsorption and reducing the energy barrier of the rate determining step of ORR. The Mg-air battery with the La0.7Ba0.3Ni0.5Mn0.5O3 catalyst exhibits a high discharge voltage of 1.37 V and a maximum power density of 65.224 mW•cm-2, indicating its great potential in practical Mg-air batteries.
APPLIED SURFACE SCIENCE
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Cheng Chen, Zi-Jun Tang, Jia-Yi Li, Cong-Yi Du, Ting Ouyang, Kang Xiao, Zhao-Qing Liu
Summary: In situ growing transition metals on N-doped carbon by atomic doping presents a potential alternative to replace Pt-based catalysts for redox reactions. This study presents a simple synthetic strategy to fabricate a highly active and durable MnO modifying Co-N-x/C catalyst. The interphase engineering effectively controls the composition of the material, and the interaction between Co-N-x and MnO phase is also discussed. The resulting catalyst exhibits excellent electrocatalytic properties and durability in acidic and basic solutions.
ADVANCED FUNCTIONAL MATERIALS
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Si -Tong Guo, Zi-Yuan Tang, Ting Liu, Ting Ouyang, Zhao-Qing Liu
Summary: In this study, a chlorine (Cl)-modified Cu2O/ZnO heterostructure photocathode (CCZO) with high CH4 faradaic efficiency (88.6%) and durability (over 5 h) is presented. The Cl ions in CCZO stabilize Cu2O against photo-corrosion and promote the hydrogenation of *CO intermediate, leading to the selective reduction of CO2 to CH4. The catalytic mechanism of CCZO in modulating the energy barrier of intermediate *CO combined with H+ is elucidated, providing a new idea for developing high selectivity and stable catalysts for CO2 reduction.
APPLIED CATALYSIS B-ENVIRONMENTAL
(2023)
Article
Electrochemistry
Jiexin Chen, Xingxin Luo, Hanwen Zhang, Xianxi Liang, Kang Xiao, Ting Ouyang, Meng Dan, Zhao-Qing Liu
Summary: Promoting the dissociation of water and desorption of hydrogen is crucial for improving the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) activity and stability in alkaline media. In this study, a polyaniline-coated CoRu-LDH (CoRu-LDH/PANI) nanowire array electrocatalyst is demonstrated to be efficient and stable for alkaline HER. The CoRu-LDH/PANI exhibits excellent HER activity with low overpotentials at large current densities, surpassing the benchmark Pt/C and the pristine CoRu-LDH. The PANI coating not only enhances the HER performance by regulating the electronic structure and reducing the binding strength to hydrogen intermediates, but also provides a superhydrophilic surface for electrolyte and bubble transport, contributing to the long-term stability.
ELECTROCHIMICA ACTA
(2023)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Hui Guan, Wenyuan Zhang, Hui Liu, Yang Jiang, Feng Li, Maoyu Wu, Geoffrey I. N. Waterhouse, Dongxiao Sun-Waterhouse, Dapeng Li
Summary: This study investigated the anticancer mechanism of quercetin in liver cancer cells by inducing apoptosis. Quercetin inhibited YY1 and promoted p53 expression, leading to increased Bax/Bcl-2 ratio and induction of cell proliferation and apoptosis. The study also revealed that quercetin directly interacted with YY1 and disrupted YY1-p53 interaction, thereby activating p53. These findings provide insights into the mechanism of quercetin's anticancer action and support its development as a therapeutic agent.
Article
Engineering, Biomedical
Li Wang, Baorui Zhang, Xueting Yang, Shuaitian Guo, Geoffrey I. N. Waterhouse, Guangrong Song, Shanyue Guan, Aihua Liu, Liang Cheng, Shuyun Zhou
Summary: In acute ischemic stroke therapy, a novel neuroprotective agent called AFGdLDH comprising Gd-containing layered double hydroxide nanosheets, atorvastatin, and ferritin heavy subunit has been developed. This agent exhibits outstanding antioxidant activity and neuroprotective properties, reducing neural injuries caused by reactive oxygen species during ischemic reperfusion.
BIOACTIVE MATERIALS
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Xuanang Bian, Yunxuan Zhao, Geoffrey I. N. Waterhouse, Yingxuan Miao, Chao Zhou, Li-Zhu Wu, Tierui Zhang
Summary: This study measured the actual reaction temperature of photothermal ammonia synthesis over carbon-supported Ru catalyst using Le Chatelier's principle, and found that the activation energy for photothermal catalysis was much lower than thermocatalysis. This was attributed to hot-electron injection reducing the energy barriers for N2 dissociation and intermediates hydrogenation, while also suppressing carbon support methanation. The catalyst exhibited outstanding operational stability over 1000 hours. This work provides new insights into the effects of hot electrons in ammonia synthesis and guides the design of high-performance photothermal catalysts.
ANGEWANDTE CHEMIE-INTERNATIONAL EDITION
(2023)
Article
Biophysics
Yongfeng Chen, Yufeng Sun, Ruiqiang Wang, Geoffrey I. N. Waterhouse, Zhixiang Xu
Summary: A self-crosslinked conductive molecularly imprinted gel (CMIG) was prepared using cationic guar gum (CGG), chitosan (CS), beta-cyclodextrin (beta-CD), amaranth (AM) and multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs). The CMIG exhibited excellent gelation properties facilitated by imine bonds, hydrogen-bonding interactions, and electrostatic attractions. Additionally, beta-CD and MWCNTs improved the adsorption capacity and conductivity of CMIG, respectively. The CMIG-based electrochemical sensor showed high sensitivity and selectivity for AM determination in foods, with good durability and a linear response range of 0.02-150 mu M.
BIOSENSORS & BIOELECTRONICS
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Wenbo Xiong, Jikang Wang, Xianggui Kong, Geoffrey I. N. Waterhouse, Huijie Liu, Ye Wang, Shihua Liu, Yawen Wang, Shaoquan Li, Yufei Zhao, Haohong Duan
Summary: Water and soil pollution caused by toxic cadmium ions (Cd2+) pose a serious threat to living organisms. Finding low-cost mineralizers that can effectively immobilize Cd2+ ions is crucial for wastewater treatment and soil remediation. In this study, a novel mineralizer, magnesium-aluminum layered double hydroxide (MgAl-LDH), was developed and demonstrated high capacity and selectivity for Cd2+ removal. The mineralizer reduced the Cd2+ concentration in aqueous solution from 100 ppm to less than 50 ppb within 15 minutes, meeting the discharge standard of industrial wastewater. This work highlights the potential of defect-engineered LDH materials for the selective removal of heavy metals from polluted water.
JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL CHEMISTRY C
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Jinlong Liu, Dong Qian, Geoffrey I. N. Waterhouse, Xiangxiong Chen, Jiangnan Guo, Ziyu Luo, Xinxin Zhang, Dongxiao Sun-Waterhouse
Summary: PtNi nanoalloys dispersed on N-doped carbon frameworks were prepared through a simple pyrolysis strategy to form PtNi/NC catalyst. The PtNi/NC catalyst exhibited excellent ORR activity and stability due to the individual components and hierarchical structure. Charge redistribution and a suitable metal dband center were found to enhance the formation of ORR intermediates and improve the ORR activity of PtNi nanoalloys.
JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL CHEMISTRY LETTERS
(2023)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Jiaqi Zhao, Jinjia Liu, Zhenhua Li, Kaiwen Wang, Run Shi, Pu Wang, Qing Wang, Geoffrey I. N. Waterhouse, Xiaodong Wen, Tierui Zhang
Summary: The authors present a Ru1Co single atom alloy catalyst for CO photo-hydrogenation to C5+ liquid fuels. The catalyst demonstrates effective CO activation and C-C coupling reactions, while suppressing over-hydrogenation. The findings provide new opportunities for the production of C5+ liquid fuels under sunlight at mild pressures.
NATURE COMMUNICATIONS
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Inorganic & Nuclear
Rui Liu, Difu Zhan, Dong Wang, Changcun Han, Qian Fu, Hongxun Zhu, Zhuxiang Mao, Zhao-Qing Liu
Summary: Photoelectrochemical (PEC) splitting water technology has gradually matured over the years. Photoanodes loaded with metal nanoparticles (NPs) show excellent PEC performance. This study used noble metal nanoparticles Ag and Au to modify BiVO4 and investigate its PEC performance. The results showed that Ag/BiVO4 and Au/BiVO4 photoanodes had higher photocurrent densities and hydrogen evolution capacity compared to pure BiVO4. Through the research, it was found that the composite noble metal NPs can improve the PEC properties by introducing a surface plasmon resonance effect to enhance carrier concentration and separation. In conclusion, loading noble metal NPs is an effective method to enhance the water oxidation kinetics of BiVO4 photoanodes.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Yingxuan Miao, Yunxuan Zhao, Geoffrey I. N. Waterhouse, Run Shi, Li-Zhu Wu, Tierui Zhang
Summary: Researchers have developed a photothermal catalytic recycling system that can convert polyolefin plastics into liquid/waxy fuels. By using concentrated sunlight or xenon lamp irradiation, polyolefin plastics are heated, resulting in the hydrogenolysis of the C-C and C-H bonds in the polymer chains, leading to the complete conversion of waste polyolefins into valuable liquid fuels. This work demonstrates a simple and efficient strategy for recycling waste polyolefin plastics using abundant solar energy.
NATURE COMMUNICATIONS
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Changchun Ye, Zhenghui Pan, Qinghua Zhang, Fang Yin, Yanan Wang, Yifei Li, Guangxu Chen, Jia Li, Yongcai Qiu, Geoffrey I. N. Waterhouse, Lin Gu, Zhang Lin, Lin Guo
Summary: A facile synthesis route for heterostructured metal oxides via quenching-induced structural transformation was developed. Multiple quenching triggered the transformation from NiMoO4 to NiFe2O4, creating a novel heterostructure, and the pre-quenching generated disordered defect structure can promote subsequent quenching regulation.
ENERGY & ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE
(2024)
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Jingwei Li, Zhengyi Huang, Cong Wang, Lei Tian, Xiaoqing Yang, Rongfu Zhou, Mohamed Nawfal Ghazzal, Zhao-Qing Liu
Summary: In this research, the efficient transfer of photoexcited carriers was achieved by introducing amorphous carbon into bandgap-broken heterojunctions. The formation of similar orbital energies enabled the migration of electrons and holes to the amorphous carbon, thereby enhancing carrier separation in the heterojunction. By controlling the relative amount of metal-O-C bonds at the interface, the charge transfer kinetics could be modulated, resulting in a significant increase in H2 generation. This strategy can be extended to other carbon allotropes, demonstrating its universality in optimizing charge transfer in broken-bandgap heterojunctions for photocatalytic H2 production.
APPLIED CATALYSIS B-ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY
(2024)
Article
Chemistry, Applied
Yuyi Du, Shikai Zhang, Geoffrey I. N. Waterhouse, Tao Zhou, Fangzhou Xu, Ranran Wang, Dongxiao Sun-Waterhouse, Peng Wu
Summary: Sustainable innovation aims to find more energy-efficient processes for producing highly demanded products from industrial by-products. This study compares two processes for extracting pectins from citrus peel and finds that using high-intensity pulsed electric field (HIPEF) pretreatment can increase pectin yield and production efficiency while reducing energy consumption.
FOOD HYDROCOLLOIDS
(2024)
