Ni(OH)₂ Nanoparticles Embedded in Conductive Microrod Array: An Efficient and Durable Electrocatalyst for Alkaline Oxygen Evolution Reaction

It is extremely important to develop earth-abundant and stable oxygen evolution reaction (OER) electrocatalysts with excellent performance in alkaline media. In this work, we describe the in situ electrochemical conversion of microrod array of Ni­(tetracyano­quinodimethane)₂, Ni­(TCNQ)₂, into Ni­(OH)₂ nanoparticles embedded in a conductive TCNQ microrod array via anode oxidation. Such Ni­(OH)₂-TCNQ microarray shows OER activity needing overpotentials of 322 and 354 mV to attain current densities of 50 and 100 mA cm^–2 in 1.0 M KOH, respectively. It is also extremely durable with its electrocatalytic performance being kept for at least 20 h. This work points out a stimulating approach to explore the utilization of TCNQ array as a conductive matrix for electrochemical applications

Enriching Reaction Intermediates in Multishell Structured Copper Catalysts for Boosted Propanol Electrosynthesis from Carbon Monoxide

Fine-tuned catalysts that alter the diffusion kinetics of reaction intermediates is of great importance for achieving high-performance multicarbon (C2+) product generation in carbon monoxide (CO) reduction. Herein, we conduct a structural design based on Cu2O nanoparticles and present an effective strategy for enhancing propanol electrosynthesis from CO. The electrochemical characterization, operando Raman monitoring, and finite-element method simulations reveal that the multishell structured catalyst can realize the enrichment of C1 and C2 intermediates by nanoconfinement space, leading to the possibility of further coupling. Consequently, the multishell copper catalyst realizes a high Faraday efficiency of 22.22 ± 0.38% toward propanol at the current density of 50 mA cm–2