Affiliation:
1. School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering Yangzhou University Yangzhou Jiangsu 225009 P. R. China
2. Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Micro/Nano‐Porous Functional Materials (SKLPM) Academy for Advanced Interdisciplinary Studies SUSTech‐Kyoto University Advanced Energy Materials Joint Innovation Laboratory (SKAEM‐JIL) and Department of Chemistry Southern University of Science and Technology (SUSTech) Shenzhen Guangdong 518055 P. R. China
3. School of Electrical Engineering Engineering Technology Research Center of Optoelectronic Technology Appliance Tongling University Tongling Anhui 244061 P. R. China
4. Hefei Comprehensive National Science Center (Anhui Energy Laboratory) Hefei Anhui 230051 P. R. China
Abstract
AbstractElectrochemical activation usually accompanies in situ atom rearrangement forming new catalytic sites with higher activity due to reconstructed atomic clusters or amorphous phases with abundant dangling bonds, vacancies, and defects. By harnessing the pre‐catalytic process of reconstruction, a multilevel structure of CuNi alloy nanoparticles encapsulated in N‐doped carbon (CuNi nanoalloy@N/C) transforms into a highly active compound of Ni‐doped CuO nanocluster supported on (N/O‐C) co‐doped C. Both the exposure of accessible active sites and the activity of individual active sites are greatly improved after the pre‐catalytic reconstruction. Manipulating the Cu/Ni ratios of CuNi nanoalloy@N/C can tailor the electronic property and d‐band center of the high‐active compound, which greatly optimizes the energetics of oxygen evolution reaction (OER) intermediates. This interplay among Cu, Ni, C, N, and O modifies the interface, triggers the active sites, and regulates the work functions, thereby realizing a synergistic boost in OER.
Funder
National Natural Science Foundation of China