Zhang-Rice singlets state formed by two-step oxidation for triggering water oxidation under operando conditions

Chun-Kuo Peng, Yu-Chang Lin, Chao‐Lung Chiang, Zhengxin Qian, Yu-Cheng Huang, Chung-Li Dong, Jian‐Feng Li (), Chien-Te Chen, Zhiwei Hu (), San-Yuan Chen () and Yan-Gu Lin ()
Additional contact information
Chun-Kuo Peng: National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University
Yu-Chang Lin: National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University
Chao‐Lung Chiang: National Synchrotron Radiation Research Center
Zhengxin Qian: Xiamen University
Yu-Cheng Huang: Tamkang University
Chung-Li Dong: Tamkang University
Jian‐Feng Li: Xiamen University
Chien-Te Chen: National Synchrotron Radiation Research Center
Zhiwei Hu: Max-Planck-Institute for Chemical Physics of Solids, Nöthnitzer Str. 40
San-Yuan Chen: National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University
Yan-Gu Lin: National Synchrotron Radiation Research Center

Nature Communications, 2023, vol. 14, issue 1, 1-9

Abstract: Abstract The production of ecologically compatible fuels by electrochemical water splitting is highly desirable for modern industry. The Zhang-Rice singlet is well known for the superconductivity of high-temperature superconductors cuprate, but is rarely known for an electrochemical catalyst. Herein, we observe two steps of surface reconstruction from initial catalytic inactive Cu1+ in hydrogen treated Cu2O to Cu2+ state and further to catalytic active Zhang-Rice singlet state during the oxygen evolution reaction for water splitting. The hydrogen treated Cu2O catalyst exhibits a superior catalytic activity and stability for water splitting and is an efficient rival of other 3d-transition-metal catalysts. Multiple operando spectroscopies indicate that Zhang-Rice singlet is real active species, since it appears only under oxygen evolution reaction condition. This work provides an insight in developing an electrochemical catalyst from catalytically inactive materials and improves understanding of the mechanism of a Cu-based catalyst for water oxidation.

Date: 2023
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-023-36317-2 Abstract (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:nat:natcom:v:14:y:2023:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-023-36317-2

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
https://www.nature.com/ncomms/

DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-36317-2

Access Statistics for this article

Nature Communications is currently edited by Nathalie Le Bot, Enda Bergin and Fiona Gillespie

More articles in Nature Communications from Nature
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().