Plasma modified and tailored defective electrocatalysts for water electrolysis and hydrogen fuel cells

Abstract

Carbon dioxide generated by the combustion of fossil fuels exacerbates global environmental problems and hydrogen produced by renewable energy is a viable alternative in the continuous transition to sustainable and eco‐conscience development. Electrocatalysts are vital to electrocatalytic reactions and plasma surface modification is one of the promising techniques to modify nanoscale electrocatalysts for water splitting. Up to now, a comprehensive review on the latest developments, challenges, and opportunities of plasma‐tailored defective electrocatalysts for water electrolysis and hydrogen fuel cells is lacking. This paper systematically summarizes the current status of hydrogen production and fuel cell technologies, plasma principles and advantages, plasma‐tailored defective electrocatalysts from the perspective of water splitting and fuel cell applications, advanced characterization of defects, relationship between materials structure and catalytic activity of electrocatalysts, and finally challenges, opportunities, and future roadmap of plasma technologies. This review serves as a reference for future development of hydrogen technologies and offers insights into the structural tailoring of catalytic materials.

Insights into the Superstable Mineralization of Chromium(III) from Wastewater by CuO

“…Recently, the solar-driven photocatalytic CO 2 conversion was a promising strategy for CO 2 utilization owing to its mild conditions. , However, CO 2 conversion to high-value-added chemicals such as CO and H 2 that can be used for Fischer–Tropsch synthesis is highly demanding and challenging. , Herein, the mineralization product CuCr-LDH and CuO precursors were used for the CO 2 photoreduction (CO 2 PR) reaction under visible-light irradiation. As shown in the UV–vis diffuse-reflectance spectra (Figure S23), CuCr-LDH displayed two absorption bands at 410 and 570 nm in the visible region, which can be ascribed to the d–d transitions 4 A 2g (F) → 4 T 1g (F) and 4 A 2g (F) → 4 T 2g (F) of the CrO 6 octahedra, respectively .…”

Defect Engineering of Nanomaterials for Catalysis

“…For example, high-energy ball milling is suitable to create a high density of dislocations, vacancies, and other defects on catalysts [ 16 , 17 ]. Plasma treatment involves exposing the catalyst material to a plasma source, which can create defects such as surface vacancies and heteroatomic doping [ 3 ]. Electrochemical treatment involves applying a voltage or current to the catalyst material in a liquid electrolyte solution to induce surface reactions and create defects.…”

Surface valence regulation of cobalt–nickel foams for glucose oxidation-assisted water electrolysis

“…10 In contrast, a lot of effort has been devoted to surface modification of electrocatalysts; for example, plasma technology is often employed to directly functionalize the materials and change the surface properties without damaging the material structure. 11,12 Compared to other modification strategies, plasma treatment is the most straightforward one to achieve chemical grafting, ion implantation, functional group modification and wettability enhancement within a several nanometer region of the surface, where the electrocatalytic reactions take place. In particular, the microstructure and electrocatalytic performance are often governed by the atmosphere during the plasma treatment process.…”