Tianjin Key Laboratory of Organic Solar Cells and Photochemical Conversion, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Tianjin University of Technology, Tianjin 300384, China
Tianjin Key Laboratory of Advanced Functional Porous Materials, Institute for New Energy Materials & Low-Carbon Technologies, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Tianjin University of Technology, Tianjin 300384, China
§ Jian Zhong and Yongli Shen contributed equally to this work.
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The size effect of nickel nanoparticles on the electrooxidation of benzyl alcohol was investigated. The experimental and theoretical results show that varying the size of Ni-NPs can dramatically change the properties of surface sites and control the catalytic performance by affecting the bonding mode between reactant molecules and nickel species in the electrocatalytic process.
Abstract
The nanoparticles (NPs) of Ni with different sizes endows its distinctive physical and chemical properties, which represents a typical strategy for the development of high-performance catalysts. However, the size effect of metallic Ni-NPs on electrocatalytic performance remains ambiguous. Herein, the Ni-NPs with different sizes supported on nitrogen doped carbon (NC) has been synthesized by controlling the pyrolysis temperature, leading to the synthesis of Ni@NC-500 (8.3 nm), Ni@NC-280 (1.9 nm) and Ni@NC-200 (1.0 nm). The electrooxidation of benzyl alcohol (BA) over these nanocatalysts shows the yield of benzoic acid was 99%, 82%, 55% on Ni@NC-280, Ni@NC-200 and Ni@NC-500, respectively. The experimental and theoretical simulation demonstrate that the difference in the adsorption strength of reactant molecules by Ni-NPs is responsible for their different performance, where the Ni@NC-280 exhibits an optimal adsorption configuration between Ni@NC-280 electrode and BA. This work provides a new angle for designing and synthesizing efficient electrocatalysts, which may be extended to the exploration of various promising electrocatalytic systems.
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