Boosting the electrochemical performance of hematite nanorods via quenching-induced metal single atom functionalization

作者：Su, Ming; Pan, Zhenghui^*; Chong, Yanan; Ye, Changchun; Jin, Xiaojing; Wu, Qingyuan; Hu, Zhao; Ye, Daiqi; Waterhouse, Geoffrey I. N.; Qiu, Yongcai^*; Yang, Shihe

来源：Journal of Materials Chemistry A, 2021, 9(6): 3492-3499.

DOI：10.1039/d0ta10096j

• CARBON CLOTH
• PHOTOELECTROCHEMICAL PERFORMANCE
• SURFACE COMPLEXATION
• SN-II
• STATE
• SUPERCAPACITORS
• ALPHA-FE2O3
• REDUCTION
• ANODE
• CATALYSTS

Currently there is tremendous interest in supported metal single atom (MSA) materials owing to their remarkable performance in many fields. Typically MSA materials are prepared by co-precipitation or pyrolysis methods, and can be highly variable in terms of the spatial distribution of MSA sites created. Herein, we report a new method, quenching, as an effective synthetic strategy for loading MSA sites onto nanostructured supports. As a proof of concept, a hot alpha-Fe2O3@CNT fiber (CNT = carbon nanotube) was quenched rapidly by immersion in an aqueous solution of SnCl4 at 4 degrees C, to yield a fiber uniformly decorated with Sn single atoms (Sn-Fe2O3@CNT fiber). The resulting Sn-Fe2O3@CNT fiber electrode exhibits outstanding performance, offering a capacitance of 391.32 mF cm(-2) at 0.24 mA cm(-2), which is more than 1.5 times that of the alpha-Fe2O3@CNT fiber. Moreover, an all-solid-state fiber-shaped supercapacitor consisting of a Sn-Fe2O3@CNT fiber negative electrode and a MnO2@CNT fiber positive electrode affords a very high areal capacitance of 105.68 mF cm(-2) and an exceptional energy density of 6.09 mW h cm(-3). The surface quenching strategy is expected to be widely applicable for the synthesis of MSA functionalized materials, thus opening up new avenues for energy and catalysis research.

• 单位
  厦门大学