Stabilizing efficient structures of superwetting electrocatalysts for enhanced urea oxidation reactions

• DOI: 10.1016/j.checat.2022.09.023
• Publication Date: 2022-10-13T16:39:06Z
• Authors: Jichao Zhang; Xuedan Song; Liqun Kang; Jiexin Zhu; Longxiang Liu; Qing Zhang; Dan J.L. Brett; Paul R. Shearing; Liqiang Mai; Ivan P. Parkin; Guanjie He
• Keywords: urea oxidation reaction; stabilized structures; modified triple-phase boundary; 01 natural sciences; high performance; 0104 chemical sciences

Layered hydroxides have shown superior catalytic activity for the electrocatalytic organic compound oxidation reaction. However, metal leaching can lead to uncontrollable structural phase transformation. Here, we report a Cr-Ni(OH)2 electrocatalyst as model of pre-catalyst identification structure-performance relationship. The optimized delivered superb performances, i.e., low potential 1.38 V (versus reversible hydrogen electrode [RHE]) reach 100 mA cm−2 and stable over 200 h at 10 cm−2. In situ analyses theoretical calculations demonstrate that well-tuned electronic structures superhydrophilic-superaerophobic surface enable rapid urea reaction (UOR) kinetics, which reduces specific adsorption OH− significantly depresses Cr dopants leaching, this helps maintain high UOR performance. Furthermore, crucial role mass transfer improvement alleviate decay under potentials is disclosed.