Highly efficient nonprecious metal catalyst prepared with metal-organic framework in a continuous carbon nanofibrous network.

Fuel cell vehicles, the only all-electric technology with a demonstrated >300 miles per fill travel range, use Pt as the electrode catalyst. The high price of Pt creates a major cost barrier for large-scale implementation of polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells. Nonprecious metal catalysts (NPMCs) represent attractive low-cost alternatives. However, a significantly lower turnover frequency at the individual catalytic site renders the traditional carbon-supported NPMCs inadequate in reaching the desired performance afforded by Pt. Unconventional catalyst design aiming at maximizing the active site density at much improved mass and charge transports is essential for the next-generation NPMC. We report here a method of preparing highly efficient, nanofibrous NPMC for cathodic oxygen reduction reaction by electrospinning a polymer solution containing ferrous organometallics and zeolitic imidazolate framework followed by thermal activation. The catalyst offers a carbon nanonetwork architecture made of microporous nanofibers decorated by uniformly distributed high-density active sites. In a single-cell test, the membrane electrode containing such a catalyst delivered unprecedented volumetric activities of 3.3 A ⋅ cm(-3) at 0.9 V or 450 A ⋅ cm(-3) extrapolated at 0.8 V, representing the highest reported value in the literature. Improved fuel cell durability was also observed.

Highly efficient non-precious metal electrocatalysts prepared from one-pot synthesized zeolitic imidazolate frameworks.

A facile synthesis of non-PGM ORR electrocatalysts through thermolysis of one-pot synthesized ZIF is demonstrated. The electrocatalysts exhibit excellent activity, with a maximum volumetric current density of 88.1 A cm(-3) measured at 0.8 V in PEFC tests. This approach not only makes ZIFs-based electrocatalysts easy to scale up, but also paves the way for the tailored synthesis of electrocatalysts.

Three-dimensional conducting oxide nanoarchitectures: morphology-controllable synthesis, characterization, and applications in lithium-ion batteries.

We report the synthesis, characterization and applications in Li-ion batteries of a set of 3-dimensional (3-D) nanostructured conducting oxides including fluorinated tin oxide (FTO) and aluminum zinc oxide (AZO). The morphology of these 3-D conducting oxide nanoarchitectures can be directed towards either mono-dispersed hollow nanobead matrix or mono-dispersed sponge-like nanoporous matrix by controlling the surface charge of the templating polystyrene (PS) nanobeads, the steric hindrance and hydrolysis rates of the precursors, pH of the solvents etc. during the evaporative co-assembly of the PS beads. These 3-D nanostructured conducting oxide matrices possess high surface area (over 100 m(2) g(-1)) and accessible interconnected pores extending in all three spatial dimensions. By optimizing the temperature profile during calcination, we can obtain large area (of a few cm(2)) and crack-free nanoarchitectured films with thickness over 60 µm. As such, the sheet resistance of these nanoarchitectured films on FTO glass can reach below 20 Ω per square. The nanoarchitectured FTO electrodes were used as anodes in Li-ion batteries, and they showed an enhanced cycling performance and stability over pure SnO2.

Facile oxidative conversion of TiH2 to high-concentration Ti(3+)-self-doped rutile TiO2 with visible-light photoactivity.

TiO2, in the rutile phase with a high concentration of self-doped Ti(3+), has been synthesized via a facile, all inorganic-based, and scalable method of oxidizing TiH2 in H2O2 followed by calcinations in Ar gas. The material was shown to be photoactive in the visible-region of the electromagnetic spectrum. Powdered X-ray diffraction (PXRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), ultraviolet-visible-near-infrared (UV-vis-NIR), diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS), and Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) methods were used to characterize the crystalline, structural, and optical properties and specific surface area of the as-synthesized Ti(3+)-doped rutile, respectively. The concentration of Ti(3+) was quantitatively studied by electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) to be as high as one Ti(3+) per ~4300 Ti(4+). Furthermore, methylene blue (MB) solution and an industry wastewater sample were used to examine the photocatalytic activity of the Ti(3+)-doped TiO2 which was analyzed by UV-vis absorption, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), and electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESI-MS). In comparison to pristine anatase TiO2, our Ti(3+) self-doped rutile sample exhibited remarkably enhanced visible-light photocatalytic degradation on organic pollutants in water.