1. Stable seawater oxidation with a self-healing oxygen-evolving catalystXiaojian Zhang, Chao Feng, Zeyu Fan, Beibei Zhang, Yequan Xiao, Andraž Mavrič, Nadiia Pastukhova, Matjaz Valant, Yi-Fan Han, Yanbo Li, 2023, izvirni znanstveni članek Opis: Direct seawater electrolysis is key to massive hydrogen fuel production without the depletion of precious freshwater resources and the need for high-purity electrolytes. However, the presence of high-concentration chloride ions (Cl−) and alkaline-earth metal ions (Mg2+, Ca2+) poses great challenges to the stability and selectivity of the catalysts for seawater splitting. Here, we demonstrate a self-healing oxygen evolution reaction (OER) catalyst for long-term seawater electrolysis. By suppressing the competitive chlorine evolution reaction and precipitating the alkaline-earth metal ions through an alkaline treatment of the seawater, stable seawater oxidation is achieved owing to the self-healing ability of the borate-intercalated nickel–cobalt–iron oxyhydroxides (NiCoFe-Bi) OER catalyst under highly-alkaline conditions. The self-healing NiCoFe-Bi catalyst achieves stable seawater oxidation at a large current density of 500 mA cm−2 for 1000 h with near unity Faraday efficiency. Our results have demonstrated strong durability and high OER selectivity of the self-healing catalyst under harsh conditions, paving the way for industrial large-scale seawater electrolysis. Ključne besede: chemistry, electrocatalysis, seawater oxidation, oxygen evolution reaction Objavljeno v RUNG: 08.05.2023; Ogledov: 130; Prenosov: 0
Celotno besedilo (2,54 MB) |
2. Non-covalent ligand-oxide interaction promotes oxygen evolutionQianbao Wu, Junwu Liang, Mengjun Xiao, Chang Long, Lei Li, Zhenhua Zheng, Andraž Mavrič, Xia Zheng, Hai-Wei Liang, Hongfei Liu, Matjaž Valant, Wei Wang, Zhengxing Lv, Jiong Li, Chunhua Cui, 2023, izvirni znanstveni članek Opis: Strategies to generate high-valence metal species capable of oxidizing water often employ composition and coordination tuning of oxide-based catalysts, where strong covalent interactions with metal sites are crucial. However, it remains unexplored whether a relatively weak “non-bonding” interaction between ligands and oxides can mediate the electronic states of metal sites in oxides. Here we present an unusual non-covalent phenanthroline-CoO2 interaction that substantially elevates the population of Co4+ sites for improved water oxidation. We find that phenanthroline only coordinates with Co2+ forming soluble Co(phenanthroline)2(OH)2 complex in alkaline electrolytes, which can be deposited as amorphous CoOxHy film containing non-bonding phenanthroline upon oxidation of Co2+ to Co3+/4+. This in situ deposited catalyst demonstrates a low overpotential of 216 mV at 10 mA cm−2 and sustainable activity over 1600 h with Faradaic efficiency above 97%. Density functional theory calculations reveal that the presence of phenanthroline can stabilize CoO2 through the non-covalent interaction and generate polaron-like electronic states at the Co-Co center. Ključne besede: water oxidation, cobalt hydroxide, ligand-metal interactions Objavljeno v RUNG: 23.02.2023; Ogledov: 291; Prenosov: 9
Celotno besedilo (1,77 MB) |
3. Removal of copper from aqueous solutions with zeolites and possible treatment of exhaust materialsNataša Zabukovec Logar, Iztok Arčon, Janez Kovač, Margarita Popova, 2021, izvirni znanstveni članek Opis: The mechanism of Cu2+ loading into commercially available natural HEU-type and synthetic LTA-type zeolites for their
possible use in environmental processes, such as water and air treatment applications, was studied. Elemental analysis,
SEM/EDXS, XRD, XAS and XPS analyses revealed 4-fold coordination of Cu2+ cations with oxygen atoms in the pores, a
predominant location of copper atoms on the surface of crystallites and retained crystallinity of zeolites throughout the
processes. The post-treatment of Cu2+-loaded samples with HCl and/or NaCl solutions confirmed the predominantly
reversible sorption of copper on zeolites from aqueous solutions by ion-exchange mechanism and, therefore, excellent
regeneration possibilities for both types of zeolites. Furthermore, with the calcination of exhaust metal-loaded zeolites,
catalysts for total toluene oxidation reaction, as a model VOC pollutant, were obtained. Ključne besede: Cu2+ ion exchange, Total toluene oxidation, X-ray absorption spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, Zeolite Objavljeno v RUNG: 03.06.2021; Ogledov: 1259; Prenosov: 149
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4. Effect of the Morphology of the High-Surface-Area Support on the Performance of the Oxygen-Evolution Reaction for Iridium NanoparticlesLeonard Moriau, Marjan Bele, Živa Marinko, Francisco Ruiz-Zepeda, Gorazd Koderman, Martin Šala, Angelija Kjara Šurca, Janez Kovač, Iztok Arčon, Primož Jovanovič, Nejc Hodnik, Luka Suhadolnik, 2021, izvirni znanstveni članek Opis: The development of affordable, low-iridium-loading,
scalable, active, and stable catalysts for the oxygen-evolution
reaction (OER) is a requirement for the commercialization of
proton-exchange membrane water electrolyzers (PEMWEs).
However, the synthesis of high-performance OER catalysts with
minimal use of the rare and expensive element Ir is very challenging
and requires the identification of electrically conductive and stable
high-surface-area support materials. We developed a synthesis
procedure for the production of large quantities of a nanocomposite
powder containing titanium oxynitride (TiONx) and Ir.
The catalysts were synthesized with an anodic oxidation process
followed by detachment, milling, thermal treatment, and the
deposition of Ir nanoparticles. The anodization time was varied to grow three different types of nanotubular structures exhibiting different lengths and wall thicknesses and thus a variety of properties. A comparison of milled samples with different degrees of nanotubular clustering and morphology retention, but with identical
chemical compositions and Ir nanoparticle size distributions and dispersions, revealed that the nanotubular support morphology is
the determining factor governing the catalyst’s OER activity and stability. Our study is supported by various state-of-the-art
materials’ characterization techniques, like X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, scanning and transmission electron microscopies, Xray powder diffraction and absorption spectroscopy, and electrochemical cyclic voltammetry. Anodic oxidation proved to be a very suitable way to produce high-surface-area powder-type catalysts as the produced material greatly outperformed the IrO2 benchmarks
as well as the Ir-supported samples on morphologically different TiONx from previous studies. The highest activity was achieved for the sample prepared with 3 h of anodization, which had the most appropriate morphology for the effective removal of oxygen
bubbles. Ključne besede: electrocatalysis, oxygen-evolution reaction, TiONx-Ir powder catalyst, iridium nanoparticles, anodic oxidation, morphology−activity correlation Objavljeno v RUNG: 04.01.2021; Ogledov: 1818; Prenosov: 0 Gradivo ima več datotek! Več... |
5. Designing new renewable nano-structured electrode and membrane materials for direct alkaline ethanol fuel cell : Information on catalytic activity, structure and electric current con- ductivity of new catalysts on supporting substratesEgon Pavlica, Gvido Bratina, Jørgen Svendby, Qingjun Chen, Jia Yang, De Chen, Ji-Song Huang, Jessie Lue Shingjiang, 2020, končno poročilo o rezultatih raziskav Ključne besede: fuel cell, ethanol oxidation, graphene, oxygen reduction, catalyst, pt-free, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy Objavljeno v RUNG: 03.12.2020; Ogledov: 2062; Prenosov: 0 Gradivo ima več datotek! Več... |
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7. Atomic-level mechanisms of magnesium oxidationSandra Gardonio, Mattia Fanetti, Matjaž Valant, Dmytro Orlov, 2016, objavljeni znanstveni prispevek na konferenci Opis: Magnesium has been recently becoming an increasingly popular material for various applications. However, excessive chemical reactivity, and oxidation rate in particular, is a major obstruction on the way of Mg to become widely adopted. A significant problem causing the lack of Mg reactivity control is insufficient understanding of mechanisms involved in the oxidation of magnesium surface. Herewith we present the investigation of atomic-level mechanisms of oxidation initiation and propagation in pure Mg. Namely, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy at synchrotron Elettra was used as a surface sensitive direct method to determine the valence of Mg and O and the valence band states at the early stage of oxide formation over a principal, most densely packed, crystallographic plane (0001) in pure Mg. The mechanisms of oxygen adsorption on magnesium free surface followed by oxidation (i.e. initiation and kinetics of MgO formation) are clarified. Copyright © 2016 by The Minerals, Metals & Materials Society. All rights reserved. Ključne besede: Magnesium, Oxidation, Synchrotron radiation, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy Objavljeno v RUNG: 25.08.2017; Ogledov: 3895; Prenosov: 0 Gradivo ima več datotek! Več... |
8. Photocatalytic Activity of Zirconium- and Manganese- Codoped Titania in Aqueous Media: The Role of the Metal Dopant and its Incorporation SiteO. L. Pliekhov, Iztok Arčon, Nataša Novak Tušar, Urška Lavrenčič Štangar, 2016, izvirni znanstveni članek Opis: The development of efficient TiO2-based photocatalysts for
water treatment is mainly performed by doping with transition
metals or by establishing junctions between different phases,
metal–semiconductor or semiconductor–semiconductor. We
present, for the first time, the synthesis of Zr- and Mn-modified
TiO2 by a redesigned sol–gel technique that allows the formation
of heterometallic bridges on the TiO2 surface. Cations of
the doping metals are located in the pores of mesoporous
anatase and attached to the crystalline TiO2 walls. The presence
of the Zr enhances the photoactivity of the TiO2 catalyst.
However, the introduction of Mn decreases the photocatalytic
efficiency in a nonadditive manner. The inhibition effect was
assigned to the side reaction between hydroxyl radicals and
Mn ions. The fact that Mn effectively scavenges the hydroxyl
radicals and, consequently, inhibits the whole oxidation process
is direct proof that hydroxyl radicals are the main reactive
species in the photocatalytic oxidative processes on TiO2 surfaces
in aqueous media and the process of COH generation is the
rate-determining step, which was confirmed using a method
based on the decolorization of a commercial dye Bezaktiv Blau
in a reaction with Fenton’s reagent as a source of hydroxyl radicals. Ključne besede: doping, manganese, oxidation, X-ray absorption spectroscopy, zirconium Objavljeno v RUNG: 21.07.2016; Ogledov: 3524; Prenosov: 0 Gradivo ima več datotek! Več... |