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Catalysts
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Catalytic Properties of Nanostructured Electrodic Materials
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Catalytic Properties of Nanostructured Electrodic Materials

A special issue of Catalysts (ISSN 2073-4344). This special issue belongs to the section "Electrocatalysis".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 August 2020) | Viewed by 19504

Special Issue Editor

Prof. Dr. Christian Durante

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Chemical Sciences, University of Padova, Via Marzolo, 1 I-35131 Padova, Italy
Interests: electrocatalysis of small molecules; oxygen reduction reaction; carbon dioxide reduction reaction; carbon materials; electrosynthesis

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Electrocatalysis of nanostructured materials is a well-consolidated research field, and it is, without any doubt, one of the hottest and fastest-growing areas, crosswise among several disciplines, including chemistry and materials science. The implementation of new synthetic strategies driven by a computational approach along with the setup of new in situ and in operando combined techniques have led to a faster and deeper understanding of the factors governing the electrocatalytic properties of materials at the nanoscale.

Electrode supports and active metal phases structured at the nano-level have been shown to deeply affect the activity, selectivity, and stability of an electrocatalyst. In this framework, the support texture and its surface functionalization are of primary importance, as well as the interaction with the active phase in the form of nanostructures of a different dimension, morphology, and chemistry. Therefore, the ability to trigger the electrode properties at the atomic level allows to decline different material in a plethora of applications. A lot has been done, but so far, nanostructured electrodes have opened up exciting new possibilities for future applications in a number of areas, including the energy conversion and storage field, bioelectrochemical and chemical sensors, as well as in environmental preservation and new fine chemicals synthesis. Thus, this Special Issue is particularly oriented at gathering together the most prominent research of electrocatalysis at nano-level, from fundamental to industrial application.

Prof. Dr. Christian Durante
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Catalysts is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • Electrocatalysis
  • Nanostructured electrodes
  • DFT
  • MSI (metal support interaction)
  • Electrode mechanism
  • Pollutant degradation
  • Fuel cell
  • CO2 conversion
  • Electrocatalytic detection
  • Electrocatalysis of small molecules
  • In operando techniques
  • Raman spectroscopy
  • XPS spectroscopy

Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

16 pages, 14320 KiB  
Article
Highly Graphitized Fe-N-C Electrocatalysts Prepared from Chitosan Hydrogel Frameworks
by Giorgia Daniel, Tomasz Kosmala, Federico Brombin, Marco Mazzucato, Alessandro Facchin, Maria Chiara Dalconi, Denis Badocco, Paolo Pastore, Gaetano Granozzi and Christian Durante
Catalysts 2021, 11(3), 390; https://doi.org/10.3390/catal11030390 - 19 Mar 2021
Cited by 16 | Viewed by 3885
Abstract
The development of platinum group metal-free (PGM-free) electrocatalysts derived from cheap and environmentally friendly biomasses for oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) is a topic of relevant interest, particularly from the point of view of sustainability. Fe-nitrogen-doped carbon materials (Fe-N-C) have attracted particular interest as [...] Read more.
The development of platinum group metal-free (PGM-free) electrocatalysts derived from cheap and environmentally friendly biomasses for oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) is a topic of relevant interest, particularly from the point of view of sustainability. Fe-nitrogen-doped carbon materials (Fe-N-C) have attracted particular interest as alternative to Pt-based materials, due to the high activity and selectivity of Fe-Nx active sites, the high availability and good tolerance to poisoning. Recently, many studies focused on developing synthetic strategies, which could transform N-containing biomasses into N-doped carbons. In this paper, chitosan was employed as a suitable N-containing biomass for preparing Fe-N-C catalyst in virtue of its high N content (7.1%) and unique chemical structure. Moreover, the major application of chitosan is based on its ability to strongly coordinate metal ions, a precondition for the formation of Fe-Nx active sites. The synthesis of Fe-N-C consists in a double step thermochemical conversion of a dried chitosan hydrogel. In acidic aqueous solution, the preparation of physical cross-linked hydrogel allows to obtain sophisticated organization, which assure an optimal mesoporosity before and after the pyrolysis. After the second thermal treatment at 900 °C, a highly graphitized material was obtained, which has been fully characterized in terms of textural, morphological and chemical properties. RRDE technique was used for understanding the activity and the selectivity of the material versus the ORR in 0.5 M H2SO4 electrolyte. Special attention was put in the determination of the active site density according to nitrite electrochemical reduction measurements. It was clearly established that the catalytic activity expressed as half wave potential linearly scales with the number of Fe-Nx sites. It was also established that the addition of the iron precursor after the first pyrolysis step leads to an increased activity due to both an increased number of active sites and of a hierarchical structure, which improves the access to active sites. At the same time, the increased graphitization degree, and a reduced density of pyrrolic nitrogen groups are helpful to increase the selectivity toward the 4e- ORR pathway. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Catalytic Properties of Nanostructured Electrodic Materials)
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12 pages, 5002 KiB  
Article
Electrocatalytic Glucose Oxidation at Coral-Like Pd/C3N4-C Nanocomposites in Alkaline Media
by Guang Dong, Qingqing Lu, Haihui Jiang, Chunfang Li, Yingying Gong, Haoquan Zhang and Wenpeng Li
Catalysts 2020, 10(4), 440; https://doi.org/10.3390/catal10040440 - 19 Apr 2020
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 2740
Abstract
Porous coral-like Pd/C3N4-C nanocomposites are fabricated by a simple one-pot chemical reduction method. Their electrocatalytic performance is ~50% higher than a carbon-loaded palladium electrocatalyst (Pd/C) in alkaline media. This confirms that the glucose electrooxidation and sensing performance of a [...] Read more.
Porous coral-like Pd/C3N4-C nanocomposites are fabricated by a simple one-pot chemical reduction method. Their electrocatalytic performance is ~50% higher than a carbon-loaded palladium electrocatalyst (Pd/C) in alkaline media. This confirms that the glucose electrooxidation and sensing performance of a Pd/C can be improved by the synergy of graphitic carbon nitride (C3N4), though C3N4 exhibits poor electrical conductivity. Compared to Pd/C, the size of Pd nanoparticles in Pd/C3N4-C decreases. As a result, the activity of Pd/C3N4-C is enhanced due to the higher dispersion and the synergistic effect. Pd/C3N4-C presents a rapid response and high sensitivity to glucose. The sensitivity for glucose sensing at Pd/C3N4-C is 3.3 times that of at Pd/C in the range of 0.001–10 mM. In the lower range of 0.001–1 mM, the sensitivity at Pd/C3N4-C is ~10 times greater than Pd/C. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Catalytic Properties of Nanostructured Electrodic Materials)
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10 pages, 5184 KiB  
Article
Influence of Nanocrystalline Palladium Morphology on Alkaline Oxygen Reduction Kinetics
by Eliran Hamo, Avichay Raviv and Brian A. Rosen
Catalysts 2019, 9(7), 566; https://doi.org/10.3390/catal9070566 - 26 Jun 2019
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 3581
Abstract
The structure sensitivity of the alkaline oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) on palladium is of great interest as cost considerations drive the need to find a replacement for platinum catalysts. The kinetics of alkaline ORR were investigated on nanocrystalline palladium (Pd) films with domain [...] Read more.
The structure sensitivity of the alkaline oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) on palladium is of great interest as cost considerations drive the need to find a replacement for platinum catalysts. The kinetics of alkaline ORR were investigated on nanocrystalline palladium (Pd) films with domain sizes between 14 and 30 nm that were synthesized by electrodeposition from aqueous electrolytes. Ten Pd films were prepared under varying electrodeposition parameters leading to each having a unique texture and morphology. The sensitivity of initial alkaline ORR kinetics to the Pd surface structure was evaluated by measuring the kinetic current density and number of electrons transferred for each film. We show through scanning electron microscopy (SEM), x-ray diffraction (XRD), atomic force microscopy (AFM), and voltammetry from rotating disc electrodes (RDEs) that the fastest alkaline ORR kinetics are found on Pd surfaces with high surface roughness, which themselves are composed of fine grains. Such a study is useful for developing membrane electrode assemblies (MEAs) based on directly electrodepositing catalyst onto a conductive diffusion layer. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Catalytic Properties of Nanostructured Electrodic Materials)
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7 pages, 3715 KiB  
Communication
Effect of Structure-Controlled Ruthenium Oxide by Nanocasting in Electrocatalytic Oxygen and Chlorine Evolution Reactions in Acidic Conditions
by Jisu Han, Hyung Jun An, Tae-Wan Kim, Kwan-Young Lee, Hyung Ju Kim, Youngmin Kim and Ho-Jeong Chae
Catalysts 2019, 9(6), 549; https://doi.org/10.3390/catal9060549 - 19 Jun 2019
Cited by 13 | Viewed by 4273
Abstract
RuO2 has been used for various applications because of its good catalytic properties. To further improve its electrocatalytic properties, we used a nanocasting technique. By using this technique, we obtained structure-controlled (SC) RuO2 with a high surface area and an ordered [...] Read more.
RuO2 has been used for various applications because of its good catalytic properties. To further improve its electrocatalytic properties, we used a nanocasting technique. By using this technique, we obtained structure-controlled (SC) RuO2 with a high surface area and an ordered porous structure, which created enhanced electrocatalytic properties over commercial RuO2 nanoparticles for both oxygen and chlorine evolution reactions. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Catalytic Properties of Nanostructured Electrodic Materials)
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13 pages, 2879 KiB  
Article
Tuning Sn-Cu Catalysis for Electrochemical Reduction of CO2 on Partially Reduced Oxides SnOx-CuOx-Modified Cu Electrodes
by Qianwen Li, Mei Li, Shengbo Zhang, Xiao Liu, Xinli Zhu, Qingfeng Ge and Hua Wang
Catalysts 2019, 9(5), 476; https://doi.org/10.3390/catal9050476 - 22 May 2019
Cited by 27 | Viewed by 4495
Abstract
Copper-based bimetallic catalysts have been recently showing promising performance for the selective electrochemical reduction of CO2. In this work, we successfully fabricated the partially reduced oxides SnOx, CuOx modified Cu foam electrode (A-Cu/SnO2) through an electrodeposition-annealing-electroreduction approach. Notably, in [...] Read more.
Copper-based bimetallic catalysts have been recently showing promising performance for the selective electrochemical reduction of CO2. In this work, we successfully fabricated the partially reduced oxides SnOx, CuOx modified Cu foam electrode (A-Cu/SnO2) through an electrodeposition-annealing-electroreduction approach. Notably, in comparison with the control electrode (Cu/SnO2) without undergoing annealing step, A-Cu/SnO2 exhibits a significant enhancement in terms of CO2 reduction activity and CO selectivity. By investigating the effect of the amount of the electrodeposited SnO2, it is found that A-Cu/SnO2 electrodes present the characteristic Sn-Cu synergistic catalysis with a feature of dominant CO formation (CO faradaic efficiency, 70~75%), the least HCOOH formation (HCOOH faradaic efficiency, <5%) and the remarkable inhibition of hydrogen evolution reaction. In contrast, Cu/SnO2 electrodes exhibit a SnO2 coverage-dependent catalysis—a shift from CO selectivity to HCOOH selectivity with the increasing deposited SnO2 on Cu foam. The different catalytic performance between Cu/SnO2 and A-Cu/SnO2 might be attributed to the different content of Cu atoms in SnO2 layer, which may affect the density of Cu-Sn interface on the surface. Our work provides a facile annealing-electroreduction strategy to modify the surface composition for understanding the metal effect towards CO2 reduction activity and selectivity for bimetallic Cu-based electrocatalysts. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Catalytic Properties of Nanostructured Electrodic Materials)
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