TiO 2 supported catalysts have been widely studied for the selective catalytic reduction (SCR) of NO x ; however, comprehensive understanding of synergistic interactions in multi-component SCR catalysts is still lacking. Herein, transition metal elements (V, Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, La, and Ce) were loaded onto TiO 2 nanoarrays via ion-exchange using protonated titanate precursors. Amongst these catalysts, Mn-doped catalysts outperform the others with satisfactory NO conversion and N 2 selectivity. Cu co-doping into the Mn-based catalysts promotes their low-temperature activity by improving reducibility, enhancing surface Mn 4+ species and chemisorbed labile oxygen, and elevating the adsorption capacity of NH 3 and NO x species. While Ce co-doping with Mn prohibits the surface adsorption and formation of NH 3 and NO x derived species, it boosts the N 2 selectivity at high temperatures. By combining Cu and Ce as doping elements in the Mn-based catalysts, both the low-temperature activity and the high-temperature N 2 selectivity are enhanced, and the Langmuir–Hinshelwood reaction mechanism was proved to dominate in the trimetallic Cu–Ce–5Mn/TiO 2 catalysts due to the low energy barrier.
more »
« less
Mechanistic insights into C2 and C3 product generation using Ni 3 Al and Ni 3 Ga electrocatalysts for CO 2 reduction
Thin films of Ni 3 Al and Ni 3 Ga on carbon solid supports have been shown to generate multi-carbon products in electrochemical CO 2 reduction, an activity profile that, until recently, was ascribed exclusively to Cu-based catalysts. This catalytic behavior has introduced questions regarding the role of each metal, as well as other system components, during CO 2 reduction. Here, the significance of electrode structure and solid support choice in determining higher- versus lower-order reduction products is explored, and the commonly invoked Fischer–Tropsch-type mechanism of CO 2 reduction to multi-carbon products is indirectly probed. Electrochemical studies of both intermetallic and non-mixed Ni–Group 13 catalyst films suggest that intermetallic character is required to achieve C2 and C3 products irrespective of carbon support choice, negating the possibility of separate metal sites performing distinct yet complementary roles in CO 2 reduction. Furthermore, Ni 3 Al and Ni 3 Ga were shown to be incapable of generating higher-order reduction products in D 2 O, suggesting a departure from accepted mechanisms for CO 2 reduction on Cu. Additional routes to multi-carbon products may therefore be accessible when developing intermetallic catalysts for CO 2 electroreduction.
more »
« less
- Award ID(s):
- 1800400
- PAR ID:
- 10106176
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Faraday Discussions
- Volume:
- 215
- ISSN:
- 1359-6640
- Page Range / eLocation ID:
- 192 to 204
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
More Like this
-
-
Atomically dispersed and nitrogen-coordinated single Ni sites ( i.e. , NiN x moieties) embedded in partially graphitized carbon have emerged as effective catalysts for CO 2 electroreduction to CO. However, much mystery remains behind the extrinsic and intrinsic factors that govern the overall catalytic CO 2 electrolysis performance. Here, we designed a high-performance single Ni site catalyst through elucidating the structural evolution of NiN x sites during thermal activation and other critical external factors ( e.g. , carbon particle sizes and Ni content) by using Ni–N–C model catalysts derived from nitrogen-doped carbon carbonized from a zeolitic imidazolate framework (ZIF)-8. The N coordination, metal–N bond length, and thermal wrinkling of carbon planes in Ni–N–C catalysts significantly depend on thermal temperatures. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations reveal that the shortening Ni–N bonds in compressively strained NiN 4 sites could intrinsically enhance the CO 2 RR activity and selectivity of the Ni–N–C catalyst. Notably, the NiN 3 active sites with optimal local structures formed at higher temperatures ( e.g. , 1200 °C) are intrinsically more active and CO selective than NiN 4 , providing a new opportunity to design a highly active catalyst via populating NiN 3 sites with increased density. We also studied how morphological factors such as the carbon host particle size and Ni loading alter the final catalyst structure and performance. The implementation of this catalyst in an industrial flow-cell electrolyzer demonstrated an impressive performance for CO generation, achieving a current density of CO up to 726 mA cm −2 with faradaic efficiency of CO above 90%, representing one of the best catalysts for CO 2 reduction to CO.more » « less
-
Electrochemical conversion of carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) to chemicals or fuels can effectively promote carbon capture and utilization, and reduce greenhouse gas emission but a serious impediment to the process is to find highly active electrocatalysts that can selectively produce desired products. Herein, we have established the design principles based on the density functional theory calculations to screen the most promising catalysts from the family of coordinately unsaturated/saturated transition metal (TM) embedded into covalent organic frameworks (TM-COFs). An intrinsic descriptor has been discovered to correlate the molecular structures of the active centers with both the activity and selectivity of the catalysts. Among all the catalysts, the coordinately unsaturated Ni-doped covalent triazine framework (Ni-CTF) is identified as one of the best electrocatalysts with the lowest overpotential (0.34 V) for CO 2 reduction toward CO while inhibiting the formation of the side products, H 2 and formic acid. Compared with coordinately saturated TM-COFs and noble metals ( e.g. Au and Ag), TM-CTFs exhibit higher catalytic activity and stronger inhibition of side products. The predictions are supported by previous experimental results. This study provides an effective strategy and predictive tool for developing desired catalysts with high activity and selectivity.more » « less
-
Water splitting has been widely considered to be an efficient way to generate sustainable and renewable energy resources in fuel cells, metal–air batteries and other energy conversion devices. Exploring efficient electrocatalysts to expedite the anodic oxygen evolution reaction (OER) is a crucial task that needs to be addressed in order to boost the practical application of water splitting. Intensive efforts have been devoted to develop mixed transition metal based chalcogenides as effective OER electrocatalysts. Herein, we have reported synthesis of a series of mixed metal selenides containing Co, Ni and Cu employing combinatorial electrodeposition, and systematically investigated how the transition metal doping affects the OER catalytic activity in alkaline medium. Energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) was performed to detect the elemental compositions and confirm the feasibility of compositional control of 66 metal selenide thin films. It was observed that the OER catalytic activity is sensitive to the concentration of Cu in the catalysts, and the catalyst activity tended to increase with increasing Cu concentration. However, increasing the Cu concentration beyond a certain limit led to decrease in catalytic efficiency, and copper selenide by itself, although catalytically active, showed higher onset potential and overpotential for OER compared to the ternary and quaternary mixed metal selenides. Interestingly, the best quaternary composition (Co 0.21 Ni 0.25 Cu 0.54 ) 3 Se 2 showed similar crystal structure as its parent compound of Cu 3 Se 2 with slight decrease in lattice spacings of (101) and (210) lattice planes (0.0222 Å and 0.0148 Å, respectively) evident from the powder X-ray diffraction pattern. (Co 0.21 Ni 0.25 Cu 0.54 ) 3 Se 2 thin film exhibited excellent OER catalytic activity and required an overpotential of 272 mV to reach a current density of 10 mA cm −2 , which is 54 mV lower than Cu 3 Se 2 , indicating a synergistic effect of transition metal doping in enhancing catalytic activity.more » « less
-
Solid oxide electrolysis cells (SOECs) are promising for the selective electrochemical conversion of CO 2 , or mixed streams of CO 2 and H 2 O, into high energy products such as CO and H 2 . However, these systems are limited by the poor redox stability of the state-of-the-art Ni-based cathode electrocatalysts. Due to their favorable redox properties, mixed ionic-electronic conducting (MIEC) oxides have been considered as promising alternatives. However, improvement of the electrochemical performance of MIEC-based SOEC electrocatalysts is needed and requires an understanding of the factors that govern their activity. Herein, we investigate the effect of B-site 3 d metal cations (Cr, Fe, Co, Ni) of LaBO 3 perovskites on their CO 2 electrochemical reduction activity in SOECs. We find that their electrochemical performance is highly dependent on the nature of the B-site cation and trends as LaFeO 3 > LaCoO 3 > LaNiO 3 > LaCrO 3 . Among these perovskites, LaNiO 3 is the least stable and decomposes under electrochemical conditions. In situ characterization and ab initio theoretical calculations suggest that both the nature of the B-site cation and the presence of oxygen surface vacancies impact the energetics of CO 2 adsorption and reduction. These studies provide fundamental insights critical toward devising ways to improve the performance of MIEC-based SOEC cathodes for CO 2 electroreduction.more » « less
An official website of the United States government

