FeNi2 S4 -A Potent Bifunctional Efficient Electrocatalyst for the Overall Electrochemical Water Splitting in Alkaline Electrolyte.

For a carbon-neutral society, the production of hydrogen as a clean fuel through water electrolysis is currently of great interest. Since water electrolysis is a laborious energetic reaction, it requires high energy to maintain efficient and sustainable production of hydrogen. Catalytic electrodes can reduce the required energy and minimize production costs. In this context, herein, a bifunctional electrocatalyst made from iron nickel sulfide (FeNi2 S4 [FNS]) for the overall electrochemical water splitting is introduced. Compared to Fe2 NiO4 (FNO), FNS shows a significantly improved performance toward both OER and HER in alkaline electrolytes. At the same time, the FNS electrode exhibits high activity toward the overall electrochemical water splitting, achieving a current density of 10 mA cm-2 at 1.63 V, which is favourable compared to previously published nonprecious electrocatalysts for overall water splitting. The long-term chronopotentiometry test reveals an activation followed by a subsequent stable overall cell potential at around 2.12 V for 20 h at 100 mA cm-2 .

Topochemical Fluorination of LaBaInO4 to LaBaInO3F2, Their Optical Characterization, and Photocatalytic Activities for Hydrogen Evolution.

We report on a nonoxidative topochemical route for the synthesis of a novel indate-based oxyfluoride, LaBaInO3F2, using a low-temperature reaction of Ruddlesden-Popper-type LaBaInO4 with polyvinylidene difluoride as a fluorinating agent. The reaction involves the replacement of oxide ions with fluoride ions as well as the insertion of fluoride ions into the interstitial sites. From the characterization via powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD) and Rietveld analysis as well as automated electron diffraction tomography (ADT), it is deduced that the fluorination results in a symmetry lowering from I4/mmm (139) to monoclinic C2/c (15) with an expansion perpendicular to the perovskite layers and a strong tilting of the octahedra in the ab plane. Disorder of the anions on the apical and interstitial sites seems to be favored. The most stable configuration for the anion ordering is estimated based on an evaluation of bond distances from the ADT measurements via bond valence sums (BVSs). The observed disordering of the anions in the oxyfluoride results in changes in the optical properties and thus shows that the topochemical anion modification can present a viable route to alter the optical properties. Partial densities of states (PDOSs) obtained from ab initio density functional theory (DFT) calculations reveal a bandgap modification upon fluoride-ion introduction which originates from the presence of the oxide anions on the interstitial sites. The photocatalytic performance of the oxide and oxyfluoride shows that both materials are photocatalytically active for hydrogen (H2) evolution.

Nitrogen-doped, proton-exchanged Dion-Jacobson layered niobate perovskites for photocatalytic hydrogen generation in solar light.

Wide band gap semiconductor niobate photocatalysts with Dion-Jacobson layered perovskite structure were nitrogen-doped via simple gas-solid reaction to extend their absorption into the visible light range. Nitrogen doping was performed using ammonia as precursor, resulting in decreased band gaps of doped AB2Nb3O10 compounds (A = Cs, Rb, K; B = Ca, Sr) down to 2.5 eV. The resulting materials were investigated concerning their chemical and electronic structures. Nitrogen-doped AB2Nb3O10 crystals showed a clear red shift in absorption. Photocatalytic performance tests for the doped materials evaluated the capability of H2 production under simulated solar irradiation. The addition of carbonates to the gas-solid reaction turned out to be advantageous for the reduction of defects and the preservation of photocatalytic activity of nitrogen-doped layered niobates AB2Nb3O10.

Characterization of copper complexes with derivatives of the ligand (2-aminoethyl)bis(2-pyridylmethyl)amine (uns-penp) and their reactivity towards oxygen.

A series of copper(I) complexes with ligands derived from the tripodal ligand (2-aminoethyl)bis(2-pyridylmethyl)amine (uns-penp) have been structurally characterized and their redox chemistry analyzed by cyclic voltammetry. While the redox potentials of most of the complexes were similar their reactivity towards dioxygen was quite different. While the complex with a ferrocene derived ligand of uns-penp reacted in solution at low temperatures in a two-step reaction from the preliminary formed mononuclear end-on superoxido complex to a quite stable dinuclear peroxido complex it did not react with dioxygen in the solid state. Other complexes also did not react with dioxygen in the solid state while some showed a reversible formation to a green compound, indicating formation of an end-on superoxido complex that unfortunately so far could not be characterized. In contrast, copper complexes with the Me2uns-penp and Et-iProp-uns-penp formed dinuclear peroxido complexes in a solid-state reaction. While the reaction of dioxygen with the [Cu(Me2uns-penp]BPh4 was quite slow an instant reaction took place for [Cu(Et-iProp-uns-penp]BPh. Very unusual, it turned out that crystals of the copper(I) complex that could be structurally characterized still were crystalline when reacted with dioxygen. Therefore, it was possible to solve the structure of the corresponding dinuclear peroxido complex directly from the same batch of crystals. The crystalline structures of the copper(I) and copper(II) complex revealed that the reason for this is the fact, that the copper(I) complex is kind of preorganized for the uptake of dioxygen and does not really change in its overall structure when being oxidized.

Magnetic NiFe2 O4 Nanoparticles Prepared via Non-Aqueous Microwave-Assisted Synthesis for Application in Electrocatalytic Water Oxidation.

Phase-pure spinel-type magnetic nickel ferrite (NiFe2 O4 ) nanocrystals in the size range of 4 to 11 nm were successfully synthesized by a fast and energy-saving microwave-assisted approach. Size and accessible surface areas can be tuned precisely by the reaction parameters. Our results highlight the correlation between size, degree of inversion, and magnetic characteristics of NiFe2 O4 nanoparticles, which enables fine-tuning of these parameters for a particular application without changing the elemental composition. Moreover, the application potential of the synthesized powders for the electrocatalytic oxygen evolution reaction in alkaline media was demonstrated, showing that a low degree of inversion is beneficial for the overall performance. The most active sample reaches an overpotential of 380 mV for water oxidation at 10 mA cm-2 and 38.8 mA cm-2 at 1.7 V vs. RHE, combined with a low Tafel slope of 63 mV dec-1 .

Photoinduced Defect and Surface Chemistry of Niobium Tellurium Oxides ANbTeO6 (A = K, Rb, Cs) with Defect-Pyrochlore Structure.

The niobium tellurium oxides ANbTeO6 with varying A cations (A = K, Rb, Cs) and defect-pyrochlore crystal structure were used to investigate the effect of A on crystal-structure deformation and defect-chemistry. We show that the light absorption of these compounds in visible light is due to defects and not the effect of a low band gap. Using the materials in photocatalytic hydrogen generation, the prevailing defects and the surface composition change significantly during photocatalytic hydrogen evolution.

The Influence of Tin(II) Incorporation on Visible Light Absorption and Photocatalytic Activity in Defect-Pyrochlores.

The defect pyrochlore KTaWO6 has been used to systematically investigate the effect of SnII incorporation conditions on the band structure and subsequent photocatalytic properties. Different tin precursors show varying influence on the resulting band gap. While the optimum conditions diminish the band gap by up to 1.4 eV, the increase in visible light absorption does not correlate with an increase of photocatalytic activity.

Thermal Evolution of ZnS Nanostructures: Effect of Oxidation Phenomena on Structural Features and Photocatalytical Performances.

ZnS nanosystems are being extensively studied for their possible use in a wide range of technological applications. Recently, the gradual oxidation of ZnS to ZnO was exploited to tune their structural, electronic, and functional properties. However, the inherent complexity and size dependence of the ZnS oxidation phenomena resulted in a very fragmented description of the process. In this work, different-sized nanosystems were obtained through two different low temperature wet chemistry routes, namely, hydrothermal and inverse miniemulsion approaches. These protocols were used to obtain ZnS samples consisting of 21 and 7 nm crystallites, respectively, to be used as reference material. The obtained samples were then calcinated at different temperatures, ranging from 400 to 800 °C toward the complete oxidation of ZnO, passing through the coexistence of the two phases (ZnS/ZnO). A thorough comparison of the effects of thermal handling on ZnS structural, chemical, and functional evolution was carried out by TEM, XRD, XAS, XPS, Raman, FT-IR, and UV-Vis. Finally, the photocatalytic activity in the H2 evolution reaction was also compared for selected ZnS and ZnS/ZnO samples. A correlation between size and the oxidation process was observed, as the smaller nanosystems showed the formation of ZnO at lower temperature, or in a larger amount in the case of the ZnS and ZnO co-presence. A difference in the underlying mechanism of the reaction was also evidenced. Despite the ZnS/ZnO mixed samples being characterized by an increased light absorption in the visible range, their photocatalytic activity was found to be much lower.

Synthesis of hydrated KTaWO6 nanoparticles and Sn(ii) incorporation for visible light absorption.

The defect-pyrochlore stuctured semiconductor KTaWO6 has been prepared via hydrothermal synthesis, resulting in single-crystalline nanoparticles with adjustable crystallite size between 15 and 24 nm. With subsequent ion-exhange of K with Sn(ii) the band gap of this complex semiconductor can be reduced by 1.3 eV. We show that the ion-exchange is greatly facilitated by the incorporation of water into the crystal lattice.