Journal of Colloid and Interface Science最新文献

{"title":"Mechanistic insights into the impact of bromide ion adsorption and surface bromination on Cu2O for enhanced selectivity and activity in electrochemical CO2 reduction","authors":"Zhenli Lv ,&nbsp;Guorui Ma ,&nbsp;Haiqiang Mu ,&nbsp;Jiaxing Guo ,&nbsp;Min Zhu ,&nbsp;Jing Li ,&nbsp;Feng Li","doi":"10.1016/j.jcis.2025.137492","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jcis.2025.137492","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The enhanced selectivity for C₂₊ products in the electrochemical CO₂ reduction reaction (ECO₂RR) is critically dependent on the regulation of the elemental existence state on the surface of the electrocatalyst. In this study, Cu₂O nanowires featuring multiple grain boundaries were successfully synthesized. Two distinct model catalysts were prepared: one through surface adsorption of Br⁻ (denoted as Cu₂O_Br) and the other via surface bromination (denoted as Cu₂O@CuBr). These models were employed to systematically investigate the influence of the differences between Br⁻ adsorption on the Cu₂O surface and surface bromination on activity and product selectivity. The integration of in-situ characterization techniques with electrochemical measurements revealed that Br⁻ adsorption induces a stable charge distribution on the catalyst surface, accompanied by a consistent potential drop within the double layer. This signifies stable and efficient processes of CO₂ adsorption, electron transfer, and mass transfer at the electrode/electrolyte interface. Under these conditions, Cu₂O_Br exhibits high stability. In contrast, catalyst surfaces modified via surface bromination are prone to Br⁻ dissolution during electrolysis, leading to structural changes and significant surface reconstruction, which ultimately compromise the catalyst’s selectivity. Notably, the Cu₂O_Br catalyst achieved a maximum Faradaic efficiency (FE) of 98 % for CO production at −0.4 V vs. RHE and 42 % for C₂H₆ production at −0.6 V vs. RHE. Additionally, the Cu₂O_Br catalyst reached an optimal FE_C2+ of 60 % at −0.6 V, which is 1.5 times higher than that of the pure Cu₂O catalyst under the same potential and 2.5 times higher than that of the Cu₂O@CuBr catalyst at −0.9 V. This work provides new insights into enhancing the selectivity and activity of carbon dioxide electroreduction by modulating halide ion adsorption on the catalyst surface and surface halogenation.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":351,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Colloid and Interface Science","volume":"692 ","pages":"Article 137492"},"PeriodicalIF":9.4,"publicationDate":"2025-03-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143768372","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"化学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Novel production of basalt nanosheets with ultrahigh aspect ratios and their assembly with nylon membranes for high-performance electrical insulating composite membranes","authors":"Dexian Ji ,&nbsp;Shunxi Song ,&nbsp;Xin Tong ,&nbsp;Hao Sun ,&nbsp;Cong Ma ,&nbsp;Baolong Yuan ,&nbsp;Yonghao Ni ,&nbsp;Meiyun Zhang","doi":"10.1016/j.jcis.2025.137466","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jcis.2025.137466","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The rapid advancement of modern electrical equipment has significantly increased the demand for advanced electrical insulating materials. Traditional silicate nanosheets are widely used as fillers in electrical insulating composites. However, their low aspect ratio restricts their effectiveness in high-performance electrical insulating applications. Here, a three-step liquid exfoliation strategy is proposed to prepare basalt nanosheets (BSNs) with an ultrahigh aspect ratio (up to 1397) from basalt scales (BS). This process involves cation exchange on BS to generate lamellar structures, serving as the basis for the preparation of lithium ion-exchanged BSNs (LBSNs). Next, oxalic acid/hydrogen peroxide treatment breaks the chemical bonds within the LBS sediment, producing chemically treated BSNs (CBSNs). Finally, BSNs are prepared by mixing LBSNs and CBSNs, followed by differential centrifugation to isolate BSNs with an ultrahigh aspect ratio (BSNs-1000). Subsequently, inspired by the overlapping structure of pangolin skin, BSNs-1000 are assembled onto nylon membranes, forming biomimetic nylon/BSNs-1000 (N/B-1000) composite membranes with an overlapping surface structure. This structure forms an effective physical barrier, impeding charge and crack propagation, thereby significantly enhancing their electrical insulating and mechanical properties. The novel exfoliation method and biomimetic strategy provide effective approaches for developing advanced electrical insulating membranes for high-performance electrical equipment.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":351,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Colloid and Interface Science","volume":"692 ","pages":"Article 137466"},"PeriodicalIF":9.4,"publicationDate":"2025-03-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143759953","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"化学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Enhancing CO tolerance via molecular trapping effect: Single-atom Pt anchored on Mo2C for efficient alkaline hydrogen oxidation reaction","authors":"Xiaokun Yang ,&nbsp;Wenjie Yu ,&nbsp;Yanfeng Zhang ,&nbsp;Chuanpeng Qiao ,&nbsp;Lili Liu ,&nbsp;Yongfang Zhang ,&nbsp;Qirui Li ,&nbsp;Mengfei Mou ,&nbsp;Rutao Wang ,&nbsp;Xiangsen Yuan ,&nbsp;Zhihao Wang ,&nbsp;Liting Yan ,&nbsp;Xuebo Zhao","doi":"10.1016/j.jcis.2025.137489","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jcis.2025.137489","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Developing highly efficient, stable, and CO-tolerant electrocatalysts for hydrogen oxidation reaction (HOR) remains a critical challenge for practical proton/anion exchange membrane fuel cells. Here in, an atomically dispersed platinum (Pt) on Mo₂C nanoparticles supported on nitrogen-doped carbon (Pt_SAMo₂C-NC) with a unique yolk-shell structure is presented as a highly efficient and stable catalyst for HOR. The Pt_SAMo₂C-NC catalyst demonstrates remarkable HOR performance, with a high exchange current density of 2.7 mA cm⁻² and a mass activity of 2.15 A/mg_Pt at 50 mV (vs. RHE), which are 1.5 and 18 times greater than those of the 40 % commercial Pt/C catalyst, respectively. Furthermore, the unique Pt_SAMo₂C-NC structure exhibits superior CO tolerance at H₂/1,000 ppm CO, significantly outperforming commercial Pt/C catalysts. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations indicate that the introduction of Mo₂C forms a strong electronic interaction with Pt, which decreases the electron density around the Pt atoms and shifts the d-band center away from the Fermi level. This results in a reduction of the *H adsorption energy and an optimization of the *OH adsorption energy in Pt_SAMo₂C-NC. In addition, by calculating the CO adsorption energy, it was found that Mo₂C exhibits strong CO adsorption ability, which generating a molecular trapping effect, thereby protecting the Pt active sites from poisoning. The strong metal-support electronic interaction significantly enhances the catalytic activity, stability, and CO tolerance of the material, providing a new strategy for developing catalysts with these desirable properties.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":351,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Colloid and Interface Science","volume":"692 ","pages":"Article 137489"},"PeriodicalIF":9.4,"publicationDate":"2025-03-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143759810","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"化学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Metal effect boosts the photoelectric properties of two-dimentional Dion-Jacobson (3AMPY)(MA)3M4I13 perovskites","authors":"Gaoyin Wang ,&nbsp;Haoyu Chu ,&nbsp;Ken Deng ,&nbsp;Jinfu Wu ,&nbsp;Qin Ding ,&nbsp;Ping-Ping Sun ,&nbsp;Zhu-Zhu Sun ,&nbsp;Chaoyuan Zeng ,&nbsp;Weijie Chi","doi":"10.1016/j.jcis.2025.137493","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jcis.2025.137493","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Two-Dimentional (2D) Dion-Jacobson (DJ) perovskites are emerging photovoltaic materials due to their excellent rigid structures and improved environmental stability compared to 2D Ruddlesden-Popper (RP) perovskites. Herein, we adopt 3-(aminomethyl)pyridine (3AMPY) as the divalent interlayer spacer to alleviate the toxicity of lead and explore more highly potential DJ alternatives, the optoelectronic and photovoltaic performance of lead-free DJ (3AMPY)(MA)₃M₄I₁₃ perovskites are investigated by first-principles calculations, where the central metals are considered as Ba, Cd, Cu, Ge, Mg, Mn, Ni, Sn and Zn to replace Pb. Our findings reveal that introducing Mn, Cd, Ni, and Ge can effectively tune the bandgap within the optimal range of 0.90–1.60 eV for solar cell application. Notably, (3AMPY)(MA)₃Ni₄I₁₃ exhibits the most favorable optical response capacity, with the light-harvesting efficiency maintaining 80 % in the UV–Vis range. (3AMPY)(MA)₃Ge₄I₁₃ displays the most excellent carrier transport with electron mobility as high as 555.43 cm² V⁻¹ s⁻¹, exhibiting a great advantage over 2D perovskites. The predicted photovoltaic performance shows that (3AMPY)(MA)₃Mg₄I₁₃ possesses the largest open circuit voltage (<em>V</em>_OC) (2.12 V), (3AMPY)(MA)₃Ge₄I₁₃ has the highest short circuit current density (<em>J</em>_sc) (38.90 mA/cm²), and (3AMPY)(MA)₃Mn₄I₁₃ is with the highest power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 22.55 %. The metal substitutions with Cd, Ni, and Ge show promoted photovoltaic potential over (3AMPY)(MA)₃Pb₄I₁₃. These results form a basis for broadening the potential candidates of this 2D DJ series in photovoltaic perovskite solar cells (PSCs).</div></div>","PeriodicalId":351,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Colloid and Interface Science","volume":"692 ","pages":"Article 137493"},"PeriodicalIF":9.4,"publicationDate":"2025-03-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143759818","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"化学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Liquid-to-gel transitions of phase-separated coacervate microdroplets enabled by endogenous enzymatic catalysis","authors":"Jian Liu ,&nbsp;Junbo Li ,&nbsp;Yan Huang ,&nbsp;Tong Li ,&nbsp;Cheng Xu ,&nbsp;Zhengyu Tao ,&nbsp;Wei Ji ,&nbsp;Xin Huang","doi":"10.1016/j.jcis.2025.137486","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jcis.2025.137486","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Biomolecular condensates formed by liquid–liquid phase separation (LLPS) play a crucial role in organizing biochemical processes within living cells. The phase transition of these condensates from a functional liquid-like state to a pathological gel-like or solid-like state is believed to be linked to cellular dysfunction and various diseases. Here, we present a biomimetic model to demonstrate that endogenous enzyme-catalyzed crosslinking within condensate-mimicked coacervate microdroplets can promote a liquid-to-gel phase transition. We identify the transformation in physical characteristics of the densely packed microdroplets including reduced internal mobility, increased storage modulus, selective blocking of large nanoparticles, and enhanced salt resistance. The reversible dynamics of gel-like microdroplets mediated by ionic strength exhibited a limited release and recapture of sequestered positively charged guest molecules. Furthermore, we validate that the phase transition contributes to a restricted biochemical process through an enzymatic cascade. Overall, this work represents an adaptive in vitro platform for exploring the phase transitions associated with the physiological functions of biomolecular condensates and offers chemical insights and perspectives for investigating potential mechanisms involved in phase transitions.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":351,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Colloid and Interface Science","volume":"692 ","pages":"Article 137486"},"PeriodicalIF":9.4,"publicationDate":"2025-03-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143768366","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"化学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Interface control in TiO2/BaTiO3 ferroelectric heterostructures: A bidirectional catalytic pathway toward high-performance Li-S batteries","authors":"Xuanpan Xu ,&nbsp;Haoyun Dou ,&nbsp;Ziwei Zhao ,&nbsp;Rawaid Ali ,&nbsp;Rongjie Zhe ,&nbsp;Lingxia Zheng ,&nbsp;Xinjun Bao ,&nbsp;Baoyan Fan ,&nbsp;Hong-En Wang","doi":"10.1016/j.jcis.2025.137467","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jcis.2025.137467","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Li-S batteries (LSBs), noted for their high energy density and low cost, face challenges due to sluggish lithium polysulfide (LiPS) redox kinetics and complex phase transformations during charge/discharge cycles. Herein, we introduce a novel hollow nanocomposite, a titanium oxide/barium titanate (TiO₂/BaTiO₃) heterostructure with an ultrathin carbon coating, designed to act as a bidirectional electrocatalyst, enhancing the sequential conversion of sulfur (S₈) to Li₂S₄ and then to lithium sulfide (Li₂S). The ferroelectric nature of BaTiO₃ enhances LiPS adsorption, reducing the shuttling effect and improving battery performance. The interface-induced electric field directs LiPS migration to TiO₂, facilitating the redox process. An applied electric field polarizes the heterostructure, optimizing the dipole moment of BaTiO₃ and further enhancing performance. Electrochemical measurements and theoretical calculations confirm the superior electrocatalytic activity of TiO₂/BaTiO₃@C for LiPS redox kinetics. The composite electrode achieves a high initial capacity of 836 mAh g⁻¹ at 1C, retaining 64 % of its capacity after 400 cycles with a low fading rate of 0.075 % per cycle. Under practical operation conditions (sulfur areal loading: 6.02 mg cm⁻²; electrolyte/sulfur (E/S) ratio: 6.5 μL mg⁻¹), the as-fabricated LSBs still demonstrate good areal capacities of 5.18, 4.09, 3.84, 3.64, and 3.15 mAh cm⁻², respectively, at current densities from 0.05 to 0.5C. This study elucidates the critical synergy between self-induced electric fields and heterostructure engineering in polysulfide conversion, providing fundamental guidance for designing advanced catalysts in high-energy LSBs and related electrochemical energy systems.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":351,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Colloid and Interface Science","volume":"692 ","pages":"Article 137467"},"PeriodicalIF":9.4,"publicationDate":"2025-03-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143759813","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"化学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Boosting ammonium-ion storage of V2O5·nH2O by encapsulating engineering of polyaniline","authors":"Juntao Wang ,&nbsp;Ziqi Ren ,&nbsp;Xianfang Tan ,&nbsp;Dongzhi Chen ,&nbsp;Hanmei Jiang ,&nbsp;Yifu Zhang ,&nbsp;Zhenhua Zhou ,&nbsp;Xiaoming Zhu ,&nbsp;Changgong Meng","doi":"10.1016/j.jcis.2025.137482","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jcis.2025.137482","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The design and development of new host materials for ammonium-ion supercapacitors (NH₄⁺-SCs) has been one of the topics of ongoing concern in recent years. Vanadium oxide has always been one of the most eye-catching electrode materials in the field of aqueous NH₄⁺ energy storage. However, in the process of repeated charge/discharge, due to the direct contact with the aqueous electrolyte, vanadium oxide dissolution and structural collapse inevitably appear, and there is also the problem of low intrinsic conductivity, so it is urgent to address these issues. In this work, the conductive polymer polyaniline (PANI) is coated on the surface of V₂O₅·<em>n</em>H₂O (VOH) by a simple hydrothermal method to form V₂O₅·<em>n</em>H₂O@polyaniline (VOH@PANI) nanobelts with core–shell structure to improve the structural endurance and NH₄⁺ storage capacity. The experimental and theoretical calculation results show that the introduction of PANI shells on VOH nanobelts can enhance the structural stability, ion/charge transfer and transport dynamics, thereby improving the NH₄⁺ storage capacity and making it an ideal host material for NH₄⁺-SCs. VOH@PANI core–shell composite has a specific capacitance of 453 F·g⁻¹ at 0.5 A·g⁻¹, far exceeding VOH (271 F·g⁻¹) and PANI (295 F·g⁻¹). The VOH@PANI//active carbon (AC) hybrid supercapacitor (HSC) composed of VOH@PANI cathode and AC anode has good electrochemical performance and practical application value. The technique offers suggestions for strengthening electrical conductivity and preventing structural collapse of other fragile materials.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":351,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Colloid and Interface Science","volume":"692 ","pages":"Article 137482"},"PeriodicalIF":9.4,"publicationDate":"2025-03-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143759814","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"化学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Porous TiP2O7/nitrogen-doped carbon composite with tailored crystal orientation as diffusion-controlled high-rate anode for lithium-ion batteries","authors":"Wenfang Cui ,&nbsp;Mei Ma ,&nbsp;Yongmei Sun ,&nbsp;Qingwen Fan ,&nbsp;KeYu Zhang ,&nbsp;Chengcheng Shi","doi":"10.1016/j.jcis.2025.137469","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jcis.2025.137469","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>TiP₂O₇ is a lithium-ion batteries anode material with outstanding stability and high safety due to its strong polyanion three-dimensional frame structure. However, poor electrical conductivity severely represses the rate capability of TiP₂O₇ anode. Herein, a porous TiP₂O₇/nitrogen-doped carbon (CN) composite with tailored (6<!--> <!-->3<!--> <!-->0) and (6<!--> <!-->0<!--> <!-->0) preferential crystallographic orientation is achieved by the ball-milling and thermal treatment strategy. The TiP₂O₇/CN (6<!--> <!-->3<!--> <!-->0) anode retains specific capacities of 194.3 and 128.9 mA h/g at high current densities of 5 and 10 A/g, respectively, superior than that of the TiP₂O₇/CN (6<!--> <!-->0<!--> <!-->0). Remarkably, kinetic analysis reveals that the charge storage process in the TiP₂O₇/CN (6<!--> <!-->3<!--> <!-->0) anode is predominantly diffusion-controlled, with the diffusion-controlled capacity contributing up to 52 % even at a high scan rate of 2 mV/s. Density functional theory calculation confirms the lower lithium ions migration energy barrier of (6<!--> <!-->3<!--> <!-->0) crystallographic orientation of TiP₂O₇. In addition, due to the homogeneity of porous structure and composition, the TiP₂O₇/CN (6<!--> <!-->3<!--> <!-->0) anode maintains a capacity of 389mA h/g after 1000 cycles at 1 A/g. Thereby, the synthesis strategy for preferred orientation TiP₂O₇-based anode is instructive for the structural design of high-rate metal-based composite oxides for lithium-ion batteries.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":351,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Colloid and Interface Science","volume":"692 ","pages":"Article 137469"},"PeriodicalIF":9.4,"publicationDate":"2025-03-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143748587","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"化学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Developing high-performance bifunctional catalysts for zinc-air batteries by utilizing Ca to modify the electronic structure of Fe","authors":"Jiao Peng ,&nbsp;Fangfang Liu ,&nbsp;Shan Ji ,&nbsp;Jiaoru Zhu ,&nbsp;Jimei Song ,&nbsp;Xuyun Wang ,&nbsp;Hui Wang ,&nbsp;Rongfang Wang","doi":"10.1016/j.jcis.2025.137472","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jcis.2025.137472","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This study prepares a high-performance calcium-iron/nitrogen-doped carbon (Ca-Fe/NC) catalyst using s-block calcium and d-block iron for the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) and the oxygen evolution reaction (OER). X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and ultraviolet photoelectron spectroscopy (UPS) reveal a strong electronic interaction between Ca and Fe, enhancing interfacial charge transfer and catalytic activity. The catalyst demonstrates excellent performance in the ORR and OER. It shows a half-wave potential of 0.87 V and an overpotential of 320 mV at 10 mA cm⁻². A zinc-air battery assembled with Ca-Fe/NC exhibits only 1.3 % voltage decay after 150 h of operation. This research provides an effective approach for developing high-performance oxygen electrode materials through p-d orbital electron regulation.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":351,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Colloid and Interface Science","volume":"692 ","pages":"Article 137472"},"PeriodicalIF":9.4,"publicationDate":"2025-03-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143768387","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"化学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Delafossite-embedded Z-scheme heterojunction photocathode with abundant heterointerfaces for boosted photoelectrochemical performance","authors":"Wen-Rong Fu ,&nbsp;Shui-Miao Yu ,&nbsp;Xianglin Xiang,&nbsp;Jian Yang,&nbsp;Zong-Yan Zhao","doi":"10.1016/j.jcis.2025.137471","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jcis.2025.137471","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Layered delafossite, an inherently p-type semiconductor, has emerged as a highly promising photocathode material for photoelectrochemical (PEC) water splitting. However, its PEC performance and scalability are significantly limited by the shortcomings of conventional photoelectrode fabrication techniques, which often involve inferior physical adhesion or require harsh processing conditions. In this study, a Cu_xO layer is introduced via <em>in-situ</em> oxidation of a copper foam (CF) substrate to achieve embedded anchoring of delafossite CuFeO₂ (CFO), thereby developing a robust embedded CF/(CFO@Cu_xO) photocathode. This configuration features extensive and strong 3D semiconductor/semiconductor heterointerfaces. The embedded structure significantly reduces the carrier diffusion length to the CF, thereby enhancing photocarrier collection efficiency. Additionally, this unique geometric design provides abundant heterointerfaces with all-round contact, promoting efficient carrier separation while strengthening interfacial binding. Theoretical calculations further reveal the formation of a strong built-in electric field and a Z-scheme heterostructure, which facilitate effective photocarrier separation and transfer while maintaining robust redox activity. Remarkably, the photocurrent density of the embedded CF/(CFO@Cu_xO) photocathode at zero bias is 2.73-fold higher than that of the traditional sandwich-stacked CF/Cu_xO/CFO photocathode and 21.55-fold higher than that of the original CF/CFO photocathode. Furthermore, the scalability of this approach is demonstrated through the fabrication of a 100 cm² embedded photocathode. This work presents a scalable and cost-effective nanofabrication technique for robust photoactive films, enabling efficient and stable PEC water splitting.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":351,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Colloid and Interface Science","volume":"692 ","pages":"Article 137471"},"PeriodicalIF":9.4,"publicationDate":"2025-03-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143739489","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"化学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}