Anomalous self-optimization of sulfate ions for boosted oxygen evolution reaction

• 作者: Dengfeng Cao Oyawale Adetunji Moses Beibei Sheng Shuangming Chen Haibin Pan Lihui Wu Hongwei Shou Wenjie Xu Dongdong Li Lirong Zheng Shengqi Chu Chuansheng Hu Daobin Liu Shiqiang Wei Xusheng Zheng Zeming Qi Xiaojun Wu Jing Zhang Li Song
• 来源期刊: 科学通报（英文版）
• 年，卷（期）: 2021,（6）
• 所属期刊栏目: ARTICLES
• 页码范围: 553-561
• 页数: 9页
• 语种: 英文

摘要

Broadly,the oxygen evolution reaction(OER)has been deeply understood as a significant part of energy conversion and storage.Nevertheless,the anions in the OER catalysts have been neglected for various rea-sons such as inactive sites,dissolution,and oxidation,amongst others.Herein,we applied a model cata-lyst s-Ni(OH)2 to track the anionic behavior in the catalyst during the electrochemical process to fill this gap.The advanced operando synchrotron radiation Fourier transform infrared(SR-FTIR)spectroscopy,synchrotron radiation photoelectron spectroscopy(SRPES)depth detection and differential X-ray absorp-tion fine structure(Δ-XAFS)spectrum jointly point out that some oxidized sulfur species(SO42-)will self-optimize new Ni-S bonds during OER process.Such amazing anionic self-optimization(ASO)behavior has never been observed in the OER process.Subsequently,the optimization-derived component shows a significantly improved electrocatalytic performance(activity,stability,etc.)compared to reference catalyst Ni(OH)2.Theoretical calculation further suggests that the ASO process indeed derives a thermodynamically stable structure of the OER catalyst,and then gives its superb catalytic performance by optimizing the thermodynamic and kinetic processes in the OER,respectively.This work demonstrates the vital role of anions in the electrochemical process,which will open up new perspectives for under-standing OER and provide some new ideas in related fields(especially catalysis and chemistry).