Materializing efficient methanol oxidation via electron delocalization in nickel hydroxide nanoribbon

Nature Communications

Stephen Pennycook¹  Junmin Xue¹  Wee Siang Vincent Lee¹  Xiaopeng Wang¹  Haijun Wu¹  Pengru Huang²  Hao Wang³  Armando Borgna⁴  Shibo Xi⁴  Zhi Gen Yu⁵  Yonghua Du⁶  Zhenbo Wang⁷  Lei Zhao⁷  Xinsheng Zhao⁸  Peng Cui⁸  Weichang Hao⁹  Caozheng Diao^1,10 

[1] Department of Materials Science and Engineering, National University of Singapore, 117575, Singapore, Singapore;Department of Materials Science and Engineering, National University of Singapore, 117575, Singapore, Singapore;Guangxi Collaborative Innovation Center of Structure and Property for New Energy, Guangxi Key Laboratory of Information Materials, School of Material Science and Engineering, Guilin University of Electronic Technology, 541000, Guilin, China;Department of Mechanical Engineering, National University of Singapore, 117575, Singapore, Singapore;Institute of Chemical and Engineering Sciences, Agency for Science, Technology and Research, 627833, Singapore, Singapore;Institute of High Performance Computing, Agency for Science, Technology and Research, 138632, Singapore, Singapore;National Synchrotron Light Source II, Brookhaven National Laboratory, 11973, Upton, NY, USA;School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Harbin Institute of Technology, 150006, Heilongjiang Sheng, China;School of Physics and Electronic Engineering, Jiangsu Normal University, 221100, Jiangsu Sheng, China;School of Physics, Beihang University, 100191, Beijing, China;Singapore Synchrotron Light Sources (SSLS), National University of Singapore, 117603, Singapore, Singapore;

DOI  :  10.1038/s41467-020-18459-9

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

Achieving a functional and durable non-platinum group metal-based methanol oxidation catalyst is critical for a cost-effective direct methanol fuel cell. While Ni(OH)2 has been widely studied as methanol oxidation catalyst, the initial process of oxidizing Ni(OH)2 to NiOOH requires a high potential of 1.35 V vs. RHE. Such potential would be impractical since the theoretical potential of the cathodic oxygen reduction reaction is at 1.23 V. Here we show that a four-coordinated nickel atom is able to form charge-transfer orbitals through delocalization of electrons near the Fermi energy level. As such, our previously reported periodically arranged four-six-coordinated nickel hydroxide nanoribbon structure (NR-Ni(OH)2) is able to show remarkable methanol oxidation activity with an onset potential of 0.55 V vs. RHE and suggests the operability in direct methanol fuel cell configuration. Thus, this strategy offers a gateway towards the development of high performance and durable non-platinum direct methanol fuel cell.

【 授权许可】

CC BY