Jia Wang,De Wang,Zelin Zhao,Ganggang Chang,Wei Guo,Jun Xu,Yinyu Xiang,Junrui Li,Junsheng Li
Developing cost-effective ruthenium (Ru)-based HER electrocatalysts as alternatives to commercial Pt/C is crucial for the advancement of proton exchange membrane water electrolysis (PEMWE). However, the strong hydrogen adsorption of Ru-based catalysts restricts its activity. Herein, a strategy is reported to tune the electronic structure and improve mass transfer by implanting Ru atoms onto the (002) facet of two-dimensional zeolitic imidazolate framework-67 (Ru@ L ZIF (002) ) to optimize the d -band center ( ε d ) of Ru and the hydrogen spillover behavior. Benefiting from the ultrathin nanosheet structure and optimized ε d of Ru, the over-strong H adsorption energy is weakened and the electron/mass transfer is facilitated. Ru@ L ZIF (002) exhibits an overpotential of 9.2 mV at 10 mA cm −2 and a long-lasting stability of 35 days at 100 mA cm −2 . The mass activity and price activity of Ru@ L ZIF (002) is 2.9 and 14.7 times higher than Pt/C, respectively. More impressively, Ru@ L ZIF (002) delivers a cell voltage of 2.01 V at a high current density of 4 A cm −2 in PEMWE. The excellent long-term durability of 1200 hours operating at 4 A cm −2 with an ultralow decay rate of 7.5 × 10 −3 mV h −1 has been achieved, making it promising as a cost-effective alternative to Pt/C catalyst for PEMWE applications.
High-molecular-weight bulky-block poly(fluorenyl ether thioether ketone)s were successfully synthesized by a two steps one-pot protocol using N,N′ -dimethy- S -carbamate masked dithiols for vanadium redox flow battery (VRB) application. The followed sulfonation procedure gave birth to novel sulfonated block poly(fluorenyl ether thioether ketone)s (SPFETKs) with controlled ionic exchange capacities (IEC). Membranes with proton conductivities higher than (IEC > 1.66 mequiv. g −1 ) or comparable to (IEC < 1.66 mequiv. g −1 ) that of Nafion117 membrane were achieved. The VO 2+ permeabilities of SPFETKs membranes were much lower than that of Nafion117 membrane. The thermal properties, mechanical properties, oxidative stability , water uptake, proton conductivity, VO 2+ permeability and cell performance were investigated in detail.
The compositions and structures of amine-based functionalized protic ionic liquids (PILs), namely N,N-dimethyl(cyanoethyl)ammonium propionate (DMCEAP) and N,N-dimethyl(hydroxyethyl)ammonium propionate (DMEOAP) have been investigated systematically by IR and 1H NMR spectroscopy and density functional theory (DFT) calculations. Analysis of the IR spectra suggests that both DMCEAP and DMEOAP are composed of neutral and ionized species in the liquid phase, the former one mainly existing in the state of precursor molecules, and the latter mainly as ion-pairs. The ratio of precursor molecules to ion-pairs in the liquid phase depends on the types of precursors, especially the functional groups of cations. 1H NMR spectra indicate that there is a dynamic equilibrium between the neutral and ionized species, probably due to the formation of some intermediates in the PILs. The DFT calculations have been carried out to reveal the conformation, and obtain the corresponding IR and 1H NMR spectra of the neutral and ionized species, so that the theoretical support to the experimental results can be provided. The present study will help understand the properties of PILs and provide guidance for further applications of PILs.