Interfacial and Vacancies Engineering of Copper Nickel Sulfide for Enhanced Oxygen Reduction and Alcohols Oxidation Activity

• Published in: Energy & environmental materials (Hoboken, N.J.) Vol. 6; no. 5; pp. 288 - 298
• Main Authors: Wang, Zhaoyang, Liao, Xiaobin, Zhou, Min, Huang, Fuzhi, Owusu, Kwadwo Asare, Li, Jiantao, Lin, Zifeng, Sun, Qi, Hong, Xufeng, Sun, Congli, Cheng, Yibing, Zhao, Yan, Mai, Liqiang
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Hoboken Wiley Subscription Services, Inc 01.09.2023; Department of Materials Science and Engineering,Monash University,Clayton Victoria 3800,Australia; Foshan Xianhu Laboratory of the Advanced Energy Science and Technology Guangdong Laboratory,Xianhu hydrogen Valley,Foshan 528216,China; The Institute of Technological Sciences,Wuhan University,Wuhan 430072,China%State Key Laboratory of Advanced Technology for Materials Synthesis and Processing,Wuhan University of Technology,Wuhan 430070,China; State Key Laboratory of Silicate Materials for Architectures,International School of Materials Science and Engineering Wuhan University of Technology,No.122 Luoshi Road,Wuhan 430070,China%State Key Laboratory of Advanced Technology for Materials Synthesis and Processing,Wuhan University of Technology,Wuhan 430070,China%State Key Laboratory of Advanced Technology for Materials Synthesis and Processing,Wuhan University of Technology,Wuhan 430070,China; Foshan Xianhu Laboratory of the Advanced Energy Science and Technology Guangdong Laboratory,Xianhu hydrogen Valley,Foshan 528216,China%State Key Laboratory of Silicate Materials for Architectures,International School of Materials Science and Engineering Wuhan University of Technology,No.122 Luoshi Road,Wuhan 430070,China
• Subjects: Acetic acid; Alcohol; Alcohols; Catalytic activity; Copper sulfides; Electrocatalysts; Electrolysis; Electrolytic cells; Ethanol; Ethyl acetate; Fuel cells; Graphene; Metal air batteries; Nanoparticles; Nickel; Nickel sulfide; Oxidants; Oxidation; Oxidizing agents; Oxygen; Sulfur; Synergistic effect; alcohols oxidation reaction; sulfur vacancies; heterointerface; metal sulfide; oxygen reduction reaction
• ISSN: 2575-0356; 2575-0348; 2575-0356
• DOI: 10.1002/eem2.12409

Rational design and construction of highly efficient nonprecious electrocatalysts for oxygen reduction and alcohols oxidation reactions (ORR, AOR) are extremely vital for the development of direct oxidation alkaline fuel cells, metal‐air batteries, and water electrolysis system involving hydrogen and value‐added organic products generation, but they remain a great challenge. Herein, a bifunctional electrocatalyst is prepared by anchoring CuS/NiS 2 nanoparticles with abundant heterointerfaces and sulfur vacancies on graphene (Cu 1 Ni 2 ‐S/G) for ORR and AOR. Benefiting from the synergistic effects between strong interfacial coupling and regulation of the sulfur vacancies, Cu 1 Ni 2 ‐S/G achieves dramatically enhanced ORR activity with long term stability. Meanwhile, when ethanol is utilized as an oxidant for AOR, an ultralow potential (1.37 V) at a current density of 10 mA cm −2 is achieved, simultaneously delivering a high Faradaic efficiency of 96% for ethyl acetate production. Cu 1 Ni 2 ‐S/G also exhibits catalytic activity for other alcohols electrooxidation process, indicating its multifunctionality. This work not only highlights a viable strategy for tailoring catalytic activity through the synergetic combination of interfacial and vacancies engineering, but also opens up new avenues for the construction of a self‐driven biomass electrocatalysis system for the generation of value‐added organic products and hydrogen under ambient conditions.