Developing low-cost and efficient electrocatalysts to accelerate oxygen evolution reaction (OER) kinetics is vital for water and carbon-dioxide electrolyzers. The fastest-known water oxidation catalyst, Ni(Fe)O x H y , usually produced through an electrochemical reconstruction of precatalysts under alkaline condition, has received substantial attention. However, the reconstruction in the reported catalysts usually leads to a limited active layer and poorly controlled Feactivated sites. Here, we demonstrate a new electrochemistry-driven Fenabled surface-reconstruction strategy for converting the ultrathin NiFeO x F y nanosheets into an Fe-enriched Ni(Fe)O x H y phase. The activated electrocatalyst shows a low OER overpotential of 218 ± 5 mV at 10 mA cm −2 and a low Tafel slope of 31 ± 4 mV dec −1 , which is among the best for NiFe-based OER electrocatalysts. Such superior performance is caused by the effective formation of the Fe-enriched Ni(Fe)O x H y active-phase that is identified by operando Raman spectroscopy and the substantially improved surface wettability and gas-bubble-releasing behavior.
Atomic regulation of metal catalysts has emerged as an intriguing yet challenging strategy to boost product selectivity. Here, we report a density functional theory‐guided atomic design strategy for the fabrication of a NiGa intermetallic catalyst with completely isolated Ni sites to optimize acetylene semi‐hydrogenation processes. Such Ni sites show not only preferential acetylene π‐adsorption, but also enhanced ethylene desorption. The characteristics of the Ni sites are confirmed by multiple characterization techniques, including aberration‐corrected high‐resolution scanning transmission electron microscopy and X‐ray absorption spectrometry measurements. The superior performance is also confirmed experimentally against a Ni5Ga3 intermetallic catalyst with partially isolated Ni sites and against a Ni catalyst with multi‐atomic ensemble Ni sites. Accordingly, the NiGa intermetallic catalyst with the completely isolated Ni sites shows significantly enhanced selectivity to ethylene and suppressed coke formation.
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