Separate H2 and CO production from CH4-CO2 cycling of Fe-Ni

Fe-Ni materials with varying Ni loading are developed for separate H2 and CO production by CH4-CO2 chemical looping. The product streams are obtained by first feeding CH4, which decomposes to H2 and carbon. The latter acts as reductant for the subsequent CO2 feed, which together with Fe re-oxidation yields CO. After 25 CH4-CO2 cycles, 10Fe5Ni@Zr has a higher H2 space-time-yield than 10Fe0Ni@Zr (〖20mmol∙s〗^(-1)∙kg_(Fe+Ni)^(-1) vs. 〖15mmol∙s〗^(-1)∙kg_(Fe+Ni)^(-1)), a 2.6 times higher CO (〖57mmol∙s〗^(-1)∙kg_(Fe+Ni)^(-1)) and lower deactivation. This improvement has two reasons: (i) CH4 activation over Ni leading to cracking, (ii) product hydrogen causing deeper FeO reduction. Deactivation follows from accumulated carbon, non-reactive for CO2. On Ni and Fe sites, carbon can be removed by lattice oxygen or CO2, yielding more CO compared to the theoretical value for Fe oxidation. However, carbon that migrates away from the metals requires oxygen for removal, which restores the activity of the Ni-containing samples.

Communication—Fe-MOF Exhibits Higher Oxygen Evolution Ability by Electronic Modulation of Sodium Hypochlorite

Development of robust alkaline oxygen evolution reaction electrocatalysts is crucial for the efficiency of water splitting. Herein, Fe-MOF nanocones array on nickel foam are synthesized by introducing sodium hypochlorite, leading to Cl substitution of terephthalic acid in Fe-MOFs (Fe-MOF-Cl/NF). Experimental results show that Fe-MOF-Cl/NF exhibits enhanced OER activity over Fe-MOF/NF, lowering η50 from 292.4 to 222.7 mV. In combination with density function theory calculations, the improved OER performance is attributed to engineering electronic structure of Fe sites which accelerate the third step from *O to *OOH, and promote OER kinetics. Additionally, Fe-MOF-Cl/NF can retain catalytic activity for 100 h.

Environmentally Benign Formation of Nickel Hexacyanoferrate-Derived Mesoframes for Heterogeneous Catalysis

The tetramethylammonium hydroxide (TMAH)-controlled alkaline etching of nickel hexacyanoferrate (NiHCF) mesocrystals is explored. The alkaline etching enables the formation of hollow framework structures with an increased surface area, the exposure of active Ni and Fe sites and the retention of morphology. The ambient reaction conditions enable the establishment of a sustainable production. Our work reveals novel perspectives on the eco-friendly synthesis of hollow and colloidal superstructures for the efficient degradation of the organic contaminants rhodamine-B and bisphenol-A. In the case of peroxomonosulfate (PMS)-mediated bisphenol-A degradation, the rate constant of the etched mesoframes was 10,000 times higher indicating their significant catalytic activity.

Mechanistic insight into the active centers of single/dual-atom Ni/Fe-based oxygen electrocatalysts

Single-atom catalysts with maximum metal utilization efficiency show great potential for sustainable catalytic applications and fundamental mechanistic studies. We here provide a convenient molecular tailoring strategy based on graphitic carbon nitride as support for the rational design of single-site and dual-site single-atom catalysts. Catalysts with single Fe sites exhibit impressive oxygen reduction reaction activity with a half-wave potential of 0.89 V vs. RHE. We find that the single Ni sites are favorable to promote the key structural reconstruction into bridging Ni-O-Fe bonds in dual-site NiFe SAC. Meanwhile, the newly formed Ni-O-Fe bonds create spin channels for electron transfer, resulting in a significant improvement of the oxygen evolution reaction activity with an overpotential of 270 mV at 10 mA cm−2. We further reveal that the water oxidation reaction follows a dual-site pathway through the deprotonation of *OH at both Ni and Fe sites, leading to the formation of bridging O2 atop the Ni-O-Fe sites.

Adjacent single-atom irons boosting molecular oxygen activation on MnO2

Efficient molecular oxygen activation is crucial for catalytic oxidation reaction, but highly depends on the construction of active sites. In this study, we demonstrate that dual adjacent Fe atoms anchored on MnO2 can assemble into a diatomic site, also called as MnO2-hosted Fe dimer, which activates molecular oxygen to form an active intermediate species Fe(O = O)Fe for highly efficient CO oxidation. These adjacent single-atom Fe sites exhibit a stronger O2 activation performance than the conventional surface oxygen vacancy activation sites. This work sheds light on molecular oxygen activation mechanisms of transition metal oxides and provides an efficient pathway to activate molecular oxygen by constructing new active sites through single atom technology.