Article
Chemistry, Physical
Qing Yang, Ting Wang, Ziqiang Zheng, Bing Xing, Can Li, Benxia Li
Summary: Engineering interfacial active sites in metal modified semiconductor photocatalysts is a challenging task. In this study, Ru/g-C3N4-x photocatalyst with small Ru nanoparticles anchored on defective g-C3N4-x nanoflakes is prepared. The photocatalyst exhibits excellent performance in hydrogen evolution and selective oxidation of benzyl alcohol, attributed to the synergy of interfacial Ru sites and VN defects on g-C3N4-x.
APPLIED CATALYSIS B-ENVIRONMENTAL
(2022)
Editorial Material
Chemistry, Physical
Lichen Liu, Avelino Corma
Summary: Identifying active sites in supported catalysts with isolated metal atoms and subnanometric clusters is challenging due to the difficulty in obtaining detailed structural information under reaction conditions. Limitations and pitfalls may be encountered, but suggestions can help overcome them.
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Rongpeng Ma, Xian Wang, Xiaolong Yang, Yang Li, Changpeng Liu, Junjie Ge, Wei Xing
Summary: In this study, a Ru-based catalyst comprising of both Ru nanoclusters and Ru single sites was reported. It demonstrated higher activity and mass activity than Pt catalyst under acidic conditions. By precisely controlling the dispersion status of the catalysts, it was revealed that Ru nanoclusters actively catalyze the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) via a Volmer-Tafel mechanism, while Ru single atom sites barely catalyze HER.
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Tongtong Liu, Hengyu Guo, Yanan Chen, Zhengping Zhang, Feng Wang
Summary: In this study, a surface manipulation strategy was used to improve the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) performance of Y2Ru2O7-delta catalyst. Implanting MoOx moieties on the surface of nano Y2Ru2O7-delta enhanced the electron transfer and adjusted the electronic and geometric structure, leading to improved OER performance. The findings of this study provide insights for designing new pyrochlore electrocatalysts and optimizing the performance of related materials through surface engineering.
Review
Nanoscience & Nanotechnology
Yang Liu, Avik Halder, Soenke Seifert, Nicholas Marcella, Stefan Vajda, Anatoly Frenkel
Summary: Size-selected clusters are significant model catalysts due to their narrow size and compositional distributions, but the structure-activity relationships are generally challenging to determine because of the difficulty in identifying and quantitatively characterizing the catalytic active site in the clusters.
ACS APPLIED MATERIALS & INTERFACES
(2021)
Article
Engineering, Environmental
Jinyan Wu, Biao Chen, Jiaorong Yan, Xiang Zheng, Xingyi Wang, Wei Deng, Qiguang Dai
Summary: This study investigates the catalytic oxidation of propane using Ru supported on porous and defect-rich CeO2 nanosheets catalysts. The results show that the Ru/CeO2 catalyst using chlorine-free Ru precursor exhibits ultra-high activity. The presence of chlorine species suppresses dispersion of RuOx species and formation of Ru-O-Ce interfaces, accelerating the sintering of CeO2 and Ru-O-Ce interfaces.
CHEMICAL ENGINEERING JOURNAL
(2022)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Lang Xu, Konstantinos G. Papanikolaou, Barbara A. J. Lechner, Lisa Je, Gabor A. Somorjai, Miquel Salmeron, Manos Mavrikakis
Summary: The use of low-index single-crystal surfaces as models for metal nanoparticle catalysts is questioned due to the adsorbate-induced formation of subnanometer clusters on multiple single-crystal surfaces. Density functional theory calculations were used to understand the conditions that lead to cluster formation and determine how adatom formation energies can effectively screen for conditions required for adsorbate-induced cluster formation. A combination of eight face-centered cubic transition metals and 18 common surface intermediates was studied, identifying systems relevant to catalytic reactions such as carbon monoxide (CO) oxidation and ammonia (NH3) oxidation. Kinetic Monte Carlo simulations were then employed to elucidate the CO-induced cluster formation process on a copper surface. Scanning tunneling microscopy of CO on a nickel (111) surface with steps and dislocations demonstrated the structure sensitivity of this phenomenon. The breaking of metal-metal bonds that leads to catalyst structure evolution under realistic reaction conditions is more widespread than previously believed.
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Shinjiro Takano, Haru Hirai, Takuya Nakashima, Takeshi Iwasa, Tetsuya Taketsugu, Tatsuya Tsukuda
Summary: A series of doped gold superatoms M@Au-12 were synthesized and the Ru@Au-12 superatom exhibited room-temperature phosphorescence in deaerated dichloromethane with a quantum yield of 0.37. Density functional theory calculations suggested that the efficient phosphorescence is attributed to rapid intersystem crossing between singlet and triplet excited states with structural and energy similarities.
JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY
(2021)
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Fengyuan Zhu, Jiangyan Xue, Lingjian Zeng, Jingrui Shang, Shuanglong Lu, Xueqin Cao, Brendan F. Abrahams, Hongwei Gu, Jianping Lang
Summary: In this study, ruthenium (Ru)-based nanoclusters were prepared in a carbon matrix using a one-pot pyrolysis reaction, leading to efficient catalysts with high activity for hydrogen/oxygen evolution reactions. The catalyst showed ultralow overpotentials for HER and OER, and when applied to overall water splitting, the Ru/RuOX nanoclusters exhibited exceptional performance at low cell voltages.
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Guangjun Li, Xin Sui, Xiao Cai, Weigang Hu, Xu Liu, Mingyang Chen, Yan Zhu
Summary: In this study, tailor-made catalytic sites for the cycloaddition of CO2 to epoxides were introduced by implementing Ag atoms at different levels of liberation in atomically precise Au nanoclusters. Structural tunability imparted by the atom-by-atom tailoring seemed to be crucial for promoting challenging bond cleavages and formations in the chemical utilization of CO2.
ANGEWANDTE CHEMIE-INTERNATIONAL EDITION
(2021)
Article
Engineering, Environmental
Jianfeng Tian, Kang Zhong, Xingwang Zhu, Jinman Yang, Zhao Mo, Jinyuan Liu, Jiachao Dai, Yuanbin She, Yanhua Song, Huaming Li, Hui Xu
Summary: The selectivity and activity of photocatalytic CO2 reduction can be effectively enhanced by modulating the reduction pathway of CO2 molecules and promoting the separation of photogenerated charges. Au nanoclusters (Au NCs) modified BiOBr nanosheets catalyst with highly exposed Au active sites showed excellent photocatalytic activity and nearly double increase in the rate of CO emission.
CHEMICAL ENGINEERING JOURNAL
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Ying Zhang, Sheng-Rong He, Ying Yang, Tai-Song Zhang, Ze-Min Zhu, Wenwen Fei, Man-Bo Li
Summary: An amidation strategy has been developed for the precision functionalization of Au-11 nanoclusters based on preorganized nitrogen sites, which does not change the number of gold atoms in the kernel but slightly modifies their arrangement with the introduction of functionality and chirality.This method represents a relatively mild approach for the modification of metal nanoclusters and improves their stability and oxidation barrier.The method developed here has the potential to be a generalizable strategy for the precision functionalization of metal nanoclusters.
JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Jing Wang, Bingxin Guo, Junting Sun, Yingshuang Zhou, Chengfei Zhao, Zhongzhe Wei, Junjie Guo
Summary: The design and construction of electrocatalysts with multiple components is an effective strategy to achieve Pt-like activity for hydrogen generation. In this study, a novel CuRu-based electrocatalyst (RuCuOx/NC) is established using dual-templates assembling and pyrolysis protocol, followed by hot-alkali corrosion. The RuCuOx/NC shows excellent activity and stability under alkaline conditions, providing Pt-like activity with an overpotential of around 29 mV to reach 10 mA cm(-2) in 1 M KOH. The synergistic effect of Cu2+1O (with copper excess defects) and Ru accelerates H2O dissociation and optimizes hydrogen adsorption. This work proposes a promising methodology to construct multi-components electrocatalysts for renewable energy systems.
APPLIED CATALYSIS B-ENVIRONMENTAL
(2023)
Review
Chemistry, Inorganic & Nuclear
Pietro Rassu, Xiaojie Ma, Bo Wang
Summary: Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) are hybrid and porous materials that offer abundant opportunities for photocatalytic applications. This review provides guidelines for engineering catalytically active sites in MOFs, including synthesis and characterization procedures, immobilization techniques, and photogenerated charge transfer mechanisms.
COORDINATION CHEMISTRY REVIEWS
(2022)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Liming Deng, Sung-Fu Hung, Zih-Yi Lin, Ying Zhang, Chenchen Zhang, Yixin Hao, Shuyi Liu, Chun-Han Kuo, Han-Yi Chen, Jian Peng, Jiazhao Wang, Shengjie Peng
Summary: In this study, inter-doped tungsten-ruthenium oxide heterostructures were proposed to enhance the activity and stability of acidic oxygen evolution reaction (OER) in proton-exchange membrane water electrolyzers (PEMWE). The introduction of high-valent W species induced the oscillation of Ru sites during OER and maintained the continuous operation of the active sites. The asymmetric Ru-O-W active units generated around the heterostructure interface enhanced the intrinsic OER activity.
ADVANCED MATERIALS
(2023)
Article
Engineering, Chemical
Jingwen Zhao, Mengran Liu, Guoli Fan, Lan Yang, Feng Li
Summary: Developing high-performance non-noble metal catalysts for the conversion of biomass-derived compounds is challenging. In this study, bimetallic CoFe catalysts were developed and exhibited excellent catalytic performance in the transfer hydrogenolysis of HMF into DMF. The catalytic behavior was attributed to the appropriate combination of metallic nanoparticles, surface CoFeOx species, and surface basic sites. This bimetal-defect interfacial engineering strategy may guide the rational design of high-performance catalysts for various heterogeneous catalysis processes.
INDUSTRIAL & ENGINEERING CHEMISTRY RESEARCH
(2021)
Article
Electrochemistry
Jindong Ji, Jingjing Xu, Guoli Fan, Tao Guo, Lan Yang, Feng Li
Summary: The CeOx-NiCo2O4-U/NF electrocatalyst with umbrella-shaped hierarchical structure exhibits advanced OER activity and long-term stability, showing great potential for a wide range of applications. This study provides a new strategy for the rational design and synthesis of complex metal oxides based electrocatalysts with excellent catalytic performance and durability.
ELECTROCHIMICA ACTA
(2021)
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Liang Xiang, Guoli Fan, Lan Yang, Lirong Zheng, Feng Li
Summary: The study focused on constructing three-dimensional pompon-like well-defined RuCo particles with tunable crystallographic structures and surface atomically dispersed Ru atoms as support-free metal catalysts in the hydrodeoxygenation (HDO) of lignin-derived guaiacol. The RuCo-300 sample showed excellent catalytic activity, promoting the HDO process and allowing for rapid demethoxylation reaction of guaiacol. This Ru-Co synergetic catalysis provides a new strategy for constructing robust heterogeneous bimetal catalysts for practical HDO processes.
JOURNAL OF CATALYSIS
(2021)
Article
Nanoscience & Nanotechnology
Guangcheng Zhang, Mengran Liu, Guoli Fan, Lirong Zheng, Feng Li
Summary: In this study, a defect-rich Pr2O3 nanosheet modified ZnO-Cu catalyst was successfully constructed for high-efficiency CO2 hydrogenation to produce methanol. The synergistic effect between surface defective structures and Cu-Pr2O3 interfaces was found to play a crucial role in promoting the catalytic performance.
ACS APPLIED MATERIALS & INTERFACES
(2022)
Article
Chemistry, Inorganic & Nuclear
Yunpeng Zhang, Jingwen Zhao, Guoli Fan, Lan Yang, Feng Li
Summary: This study focuses on the development of a hierarchical flower-like nitrogen-doped carbon layer-coated bimetallic Ni-Co nanoparticles (NixCo@NC@C) for catalytic hydrodeoxygenation (HDO) of biomass. The as-fabricated Ni3Co@NC@C catalyst demonstrates superior catalytic activity and high structural stability due to the presence of abundant defective oxygen vacancies and electron-rich Co-0 species on its surface. The findings provide a promising strategy for constructing low-cost and robust carbon-supported bimetallic catalysts for the HDO of lignin-derived derivatives.
DALTON TRANSACTIONS
(2022)
Article
Nanoscience & Nanotechnology
Guangcheng Zhang, Guoli Fan, Lirong Zheng, Feng Li
Summary: Currently, direct catalytic CO2 hydrogenation to produce ethanol is an effective and feasible way for CO2 resource utilization. However, constructing non-precious metal catalysts with satisfactory activity and desirable ethanol selectivity remains challenging. In this study, gallium-promoted CuCo-based catalysts derived from single-source Cu-Co-Ga-Al layered double hydroxide precursors were developed, showing high ethanol selectivity and space-time yield.
ACS APPLIED MATERIALS & INTERFACES
(2022)
Article
Engineering, Chemical
Yihui Song, Ming Zhang, Guoli Fan, Lan Yang, Feng Li
Summary: In this study, a highly efficient mixed catalyst composed of a Ru-based hydrogenation catalyst and a metal-free alkylation zeolite was developed for the hydroalkylation of benzene. The results showed that the combined catalyst exhibited excellent catalytic performance and yielded cyclohexylbenzene with higher efficiency than reported in previous studies.
INDUSTRIAL & ENGINEERING CHEMISTRY RESEARCH
(2022)
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Ming Zhang, Liang Xiang, Guoli Fan, Lan Yang, Feng Li
Summary: This study provides new insights into the promotion role of surface basic sites on the catalytic performance of MgO-decorated nano-structured ZrO2 supported Ru nanocatalysts in the hydrodeoxygenation of guaiacol. The introduction of MgO induces surface basic sites on the ZrO2 surface, which can favor the preferential adsorption of guaiacol and facilitate its conversion to cyclohexanol.
MOLECULAR CATALYSIS
(2022)
Article
Energy & Fuels
Wenyun Wang, Jingyi Zhang, Guoli Fan, Feng Li
Summary: A new strategy was developed to fabricate boron-doped alumina support with coordinatively unsaturated penta-coordinated Al3+ sites, which efficiently immobilizes Ru atoms to construct a supported Ru catalyst. Compared to other supported Ru catalysts, the as-constructed Al-penta (3+) site-rich and boron-doped Al2O3-supported Ru nanocatalyst exhibited a higher methane yield of 81.2% in CO2 methanation.
Article
Engineering, Chemical
Qingchen Zhao, Xingqin Xu, Guoli Fan, Feng Li
Summary: This study reveals the crucial role of surface-dominant defect-rich FeO x component in the hydrogenation of CO2, mainly due to its enhanced adsorption and binding ability for CO2 and CO intermediates. It offers a new strategy to design Fe-based catalysts and provides deep insight into the role of iron oxide species for CO2 hydrogenation to produce light olefins.
INDUSTRIAL & ENGINEERING CHEMISTRY RESEARCH
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Zhen Liu, Liang Xiang, Meng Tian, Haoyu Wang, Xin Zhao, Kangfei Liu, Jia Yu, Tianzhi Liu, Shangpeng Liu, Xin Mu, Bingxue Yang, Shiyi Zhang, Jie Luo
Summary: ABC-350, an orally-administered gut-restricted adsorbent derived from bismuth subcarbonate annealing, effectively alleviates chronic metabolic acidosis without causing electrolytic derangement or cardiovascular strain. It selectively adsorbs H+ and Cl- in the gastrointestinal tract, promoting HCO3- release into circulation and delaying renal damage.
ADVANCED MATERIALS
(2023)
Article
Energy & Fuels
Jianyun Bao, Xingqin Xu, Qingchen Zhao, Guoli Fan, Feng Li
Summary: This study investigates the catalytic performance of Fe catalysts supported on different metal oxides in CO2 hydrogenation for hydrocarbon production. The Fe/ZrO2 and Fe/Al2O3 catalysts demonstrate superior catalytic activity and selectivity, particularly for light olefin production. The study reveals the pivotal role of metal-support interactions in regulating the overall catalytic behavior of Fe-based catalysts.
Article
Chemistry, Inorganic & Nuclear
Yanlin Xiao, Lingyu Zhong, Guoli Fan, Feng Li
Summary: In this study, defective La2-xCuO4 perovskite-type oxide catalysts were developed for the liquid phase oxidation of cyclohexylbenzene (CHB) to produce cyclohexylbenzene-1-hydroperoxide (CHBHP). By tuning the amount of A-site La ions in the catalyst structure, more surface oxygen vacancies and Cu+ species were formed, leading to higher catalytic efficiency and CHBHP yield. The study also highlighted the important roles of metal ions and surface oxygen vacancies in the oxidation process.
DALTON TRANSACTIONS
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Jingyi Zhang, Baojin Ren, Guoli Fan, Lan Yang, Feng Li
Summary: A highly dispersed Ni catalyst supported on AlCeO3 solid-solution support was synthesized and demonstrated exceptional low-temperature catalytic activity for CO2 methanation. The Ce3+ sites in the perovskite-type AlCeO3 solid solution contributed to enhanced surface basicity, facilitating CO2 adsorption and the formation of intermediate species for efficient methane production. The catalyst showed superior performance and stability compared to other supported Ni catalysts, making it a promising non-noble metal-based catalyst for low-temperature CO2 methanation.
CATALYSIS SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Nanoscience & Nanotechnology
Guangcheng Zhang, Mengran Liu, Guoli Fan, Lirong Zheng, Feng Li
Summary: This study successfully developed a ZnO-modified Cu-based catalyst over defect-rich Pr2O3 nanosheets for high-efficiency CO2 hydrogenation to produce methanol, and revealed the mechanism of the synergy between surface defective structures and Cu-Pr2O3 interfaces in promoting CO2 hydrogenation through structural and computational analysis.
ACS APPLIED MATERIALS & INTERFACES
(2022)
