Engineering topics

Yu, Minghao

Publications and source records attributed to Yu, Minghao.

2 records

DOE OSTI2022

Atomically Dispersed Pentacoordinated‐Zirconium Catalyst with Axial Oxygen Ligand for Oxygen Reduction Reaction

Single-atom catalysts (SACs), as promising alternatives to Pt-based catalysts, suffer from the limited choice of center metals and low single-atom loading. Here, we report a pentacoordinated Zr-based SAC with nontrivial axial O ligands (denoted O-Zr-N-C) for oxygen reduction reaction (ORR). The O ligand downshifts the d-band center of Zr and confers Zr sites with stable local structure and proper adsorption capability for intermediates. Consequently, the ORR performance of O-Zr-N-C prominently surpasses that of commercial Pt/C, achieving a half-wave potential of 0.91 V vs. reversible hydrogen electrode and outstanding durability (92% current retention after 130-hour operation). Moreover, the Zr site shows good resistance towards aggregation, enabling the synthesis of Zr-based SAC with high loading (9.1 wt%). With the high-loading catalyst, the zinc-air battery (ZAB) delivers a record-high power density of 324 mW cm -2 among those of SAC-based ZABs.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

DOE OSTI2020

Interlayer gap widened $α$-phase molybdenum trioxide as high-rate anodes for dual-ion-intercalation energy storage devices

Employing high-rate ion-intercalation electrodes represents a feasible way to mitigate the inherent trade-off between energy density and power density for electrochemical energy storage devices, but efficient approaches to boost the charge-storage kinetics of electrodes are still needed. Here, we demonstrate a water-incorporation strategy to expand the interlayer gap of α-MoO 3 , in which water molecules take the place of lattice oxygen of α-MoO 3 . Accordingly, the modified α-MoO 3 electrode exhibits theoretical-value-close specific capacity (963 C g –1 at 0.1 mV s –1 ), greatly improved rate capability (from 4.4% to 40.2% at 100 mV s –1 ) and boosted cycling stability (from 21 to 71% over 600 cycles). A fast-kinetics dual-ion-intercalation energy storage device is further assembled by combining the modified α-MoO 3 anode with an anion-intercalation graphite cathode, operating well over a wide discharge rate range. Our study sheds light on a promising design strategy of layered materials for high-kinetics charge storage.

25 ENERGY STORAGE↗