title: Metallic Nickel Hydroxide Nanosheets Give Superior Electrocatalytic Oxidation of Urea for Fuel Cells.
abstract: The direct urea fuel cell (DUFC) is an important but challenging renewable energy production technology, it offers great promise for energy-sustainable developments and mitigating water contamination. However, DUFCs still suffer from the sluggish kinetics of the urea oxidation reaction (UOR) owing to a 6 e(-) transfer process, which poses a severe hindrance to their practical use. Herein, taking β-Ni(OH)2 nanosheets as the proof-of-concept study, we demonstrated a surface-chemistry strategy to achieve metallic Ni(OH)2 nanosheets by engineering their electronic structure, representing a first metallic configuration of transition-metal hydroxides. Surface sulfur incorporation successfully brings synergetic effects of more exposed active sites, good wetting behavior, and effective electron transport, giving rise to greatly enhanced performance for UOR. Metallic nanosheets exhibited a much higher current density, smaller onset potential and stronger durability.
authors: Hefei National Laboratory for Physical Sciences at the Microscale iChEM (Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemistry for Energy Materials), CAS Center for Excellence in Nanoscience, and CAS Key Laboratory of Mechanical Behavior and Design of Materials, University of Science & Technology of China, Hefei, 230026, P.R. China.
authors: Xiaojiao
authors: X
authors: Zhu
authors: College of Chemistry, Jilin University, 2699 Qianjin Street, Changchun, 130012, China.
authors: Xinyu
authors: X
authors: Dou
authors: Department of Chemistry, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE, 68588, USA.
authors: Jun
authors: J
authors: Dai
authors: Hefei National Laboratory for Physical Sciences at the Microscale iChEM (Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemistry for Energy Materials), CAS Center for Excellence in Nanoscience, and CAS Key Laboratory of Mechanical Behavior and Design of Materials, University of Science & Technology of China, Hefei, 230026, P.R. China.
authors: Xingda
authors: X
authors: An
authors: Hefei National Laboratory for Physical Sciences at the Microscale iChEM (Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemistry for Energy Materials), CAS Center for Excellence in Nanoscience, and CAS Key Laboratory of Mechanical Behavior and Design of Materials, University of Science & Technology of China, Hefei, 230026, P.R. China.
authors: Yuqiao
authors: Y
authors: Guo
authors: National Synchrotron Radiation Laboratory, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui, 230029, P.R. China.
authors: Lidong
authors: L
authors: Zhang
authors: National Synchrotron Radiation Laboratory, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui, 230029, P.R. China.
authors: Shi
authors: S
authors: Tao
authors: Hefei National Laboratory for Physical Sciences at the Microscale iChEM (Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemistry for Energy Materials), CAS Center for Excellence in Nanoscience, and CAS Key Laboratory of Mechanical Behavior and Design of Materials, University of Science & Technology of China, Hefei, 230026, P.R. China.
authors: Jiyin
authors: J
authors: Zhao
authors: National Synchrotron Radiation Laboratory, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui, 230029, P.R. China.
authors: Wangsheng
authors: W
authors: Chu
authors: Department of Chemistry, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE, 68588, USA.
authors: Xiao Cheng
authors: XC
authors: Zeng
authors: Hefei National Laboratory for Physical Sciences at the Microscale iChEM (Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemistry for Energy Materials), CAS Center for Excellence in Nanoscience, and CAS Key Laboratory of Mechanical Behavior and Design of Materials, University of Science & Technology of China, Hefei, 230026, P.R. China. czwu@ustc.edu.cn.
authors: Changzheng
authors: C
authors: Wu
authors: Hefei National Laboratory for Physical Sciences at the Microscale iChEM (Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemistry for Energy Materials), CAS Center for Excellence in Nanoscience, and CAS Key Laboratory of Mechanical Behavior and Design of Materials, University of Science & Technology of China, Hefei, 230026, P.R. China.
authors: Yi
authors: Y
authors: Xie
keywords: fuel cells; metallic transition-metal hydroxide; nanosheets; sulfur; urea oxidation reaction