Constructing layered-spinel composites is important to improve the rate performance of lithium-rich layered oxides.However,up to now,the effect of microstructure of composites on the rate performance has not been well investigated.In this study,a series of samples were prepared by a simple protonation and de-protonation for the pristine layered material(LiMnNiCoO)obtained by sol-gel method.The characterizations of XRD,Raman and oxidation-reduction potentials of charge-discharge curves demonstrated that these samples after de-protonation are layered-spinel composites.When these composites were tested as a cathode of lithium-ion batteries,the sample treated with 0.1 M of nitric acid exhibited higher discharge capacities at each current density than that of other composites.The outstanding rate performance is attributed to the high concentration of conduction electron resulting from the low average valence state(44.2%of Ni)as confirmed by its high conductivity(1.124×10??mat39800Hz)and ambient temperature magnetic susceptibility(8.40×10emu/Oe?mol).This work has a guiding significance for the synthesis of high rate performance of lithium battery cathode materials.
Hybrid materials are attracting intensive attention for their applications in electronics, photoelectronics, LEDs, field-effect transistors, etc. Engineering new hybrid materials and further exploiting their new functions will be significant for future science and technique development. In this work, alternatively stacked self-assembled CoAl LDH/MoS2 nanohybrid has been successfully synthesized by an exfoliation-flocculation method from positively charged CoAl LDH nanosheets（CoAl-NS） with negatively charged MoS2 nanosheets（MoS2-NS）. The CoAl LDH/MoS2 hybrid material exhibits an enhanced catalytic performance for oxygen evolution reaction（OER） compared with original constituents of CoAl LDH nanosheets and MoS2 nanosheets. The enhanced OER catalytic performance of CoAl LDH/MoS2 is demonstrated to be due to the improved electron transfer, more exposed catalytic active sites, and accelerated oxygen evolution reaction kinetics.
This work aims at mapping the compositions of zinc tantalate for optimum photocatalytic performance in degradation of organic pollutants. Three zinc tantalates, low-temperature form ZnTa2O6 （LT-ZnTa2O6）, high-temperature form ZnTa2O6 （HT-ZnTa2O6）, and Zn3Ta2O8 were prepared by solid state method. Photocatalytic activities of these zinc tantalates were tested for the degradation of methyl orange under UV irradiation and compared with Sr2Ta2O7, an efficient catalyst previously reported. It is found that the photocatalytic activity of these tantalates follows such a sequence： LT-ZnTa2O6 〉 Sr2Ta2O7 〉 HT-ZnTa2O6 〉 Zn3Ta2O8, in which LT-ZnTa2O6 shows an optimum activity at least twice higher than Sr2Ta2O7. This photocatalytic performance was revealed to primarily originate from the formation of ·OH radicals as indicated by photo- luminescence measurements. The synergistic effects of chemical compositions, crystal structure, and band structure on photocatalytic performances were discussed.
Alloys based on non-noble metals could be the next generation of high-performance catalysts for many chemical reactions. However, precisely composition controlled synthesis of non-noble alloys remains a significant challenge. In this work, we report a simple synthesis of Cu_（0.5）Ni_（0.5） alloys without any component segregation. Its success relies on the use of Cu–Ni oxalate precursors, which are chelated in the proximity by oxalate ligands. One of the attractive features for the oxalate routes of catalyst preparation is that no classical support material is needed. The actual component ratios of the obtained Cu_（0.5）Ni_（0.5） alloy are consistent with the initial ratio. Cu_（0.5）Ni_（0.5） alloy shows a higher catalytic activity than pure Cu and Ni catalysts in the reduction of p-nitrophenol（4-NP） to p-aminophenol（4-AP） by sodium borohydride（NaBH4） in an aqueous solution, and the performance depends strongly on the strong interaction between Cu and Ni. The findings reported here are highly helpful to understand the relationship between the synergistic effects in alloys and their catalytic performance, and therefore could provide appropriate strategies to obtain desirable catalysts with improved activity in various catalytic applications.
This work presents a critical review on the studies of defect chemistry of oxide nanoparticles for creating new functionalities pertinent to energy applications including dilute-magnetic semiconductors,giant-dielectrics,or white light generation.Emphasis is placed on the relationships between the internal structure and defective surfaces of oxide nanoparticles and their synergy in tailoring the materials properties.This review is arranged in a sequence:(1) structural fundamentals of bulk oxides,using TiO2 as a model simple oxide to highlight the importance of polymorphs in tuning the electronic structures;(2) structural features of simple oxide nanoparticles distinct from the bulk,which show that nanoparticles can be considered as a special solid under the compression as originated from the surface defect dipole-dipole interactions;and(3) new functions achieved through extending the defect chemistry concept to the assembled architectures or multi-component oxide nanoparticles,in which defect surfaces enable the localized electrons or intermediate levels to produce giant dielectric performance or tunable light generation.It is concluded that understandings of defect chemistry provide diverse possibilities to manipulate electrons in oxide nanoparticles for functionalities in energy-relevant applications.
LI GuangShe,LI LiPing & ZHENG Jing State Key Laboratory of Structural Chemistry
