Ultrathin nanosheet catalysts deliver great potential in catalyzing the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR), but encounter the ceiling of the surface atomic utilizations, thus presenting a challenge associated with further boosting catalytic activity. Herein, a kind of PdPtCu ultrathin nanorings with increased numbers of electrocatalytically active sites is reported, with the purpose of breaking the activity ceiling of conventional catalysts. The as‐made PdPtCu nanorings possess abundant high‐index facets at the edge of both the exterior and interior surfaces. An ultrahigh electrochemical active surface area of 92.2 m2 g–1PGM is achieved on this novel catalyst, much higher than that of the commercial Pt/C catalyst. The optimized Pd39Pt33Cu28/C shows a great enhanced ORR activity with a specific activity of 2.39 mA cm–2 and a mass activity of 1.97 A mg–1PGM at 0.9 V (versus RHE), as well as superior durability within 30 000 cycles. Density function theory calculations reveal that the high‐index facets and alloying Cu atoms can optimize the oxygen adsorption energy, explaining the enhanced ORR activity. Overcoming a key technical barrier in sub‐nanometer electrocatalysts, this work successfully introduces the hollow structures into the ultrathin nanosheets, heralding the exciting prospects of high‐performance ORR catalysts in fuel cells.

A new solvent-free microwave experiment to synthesize the ionic liquid 1-hexadecyl-3-methylimidazolium bromide (HDMIm-Br) in high yield is presented. The structure is confirmed by IR and 1 H NMR spectra. HDMIm-Br is then used to prepare an organicÀinorganic mesoporous material MCM-41. 1 The microscopic arrangements of mesoporous materials MCM-41 are studied using X-ray diffraction (XRD) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM).This laboratory experiment is used as an introduction for third-year undergraduate students wishing to pursue research. The experiment functions as a bridge to understand the difference between basic laboratory courses and academic research. This comprehensive experiment is divided into three parts. First, a discussion forum is held where the students present their original experimental design. Then, the students individually discuss the experimental design with the teacher to determined the final procedure. Second, as the course is scheduled from 8 p. m. to 10 a.m. for about two weeks, the laboratory schedules for the students, teachers, and teaching assistants need to be determined and the laboratory work completed. Finally, after the laboratory work is finished, another discussion forum is held. The experimental setup requires the students to search the literature, design a reaction route, discover and solve problems, explain and discuss the relationship between properties and structures, and draw conclusions. The students are required to design a synthetic procedure considering the limitations of reagents and equipment in teaching laboratory.