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Cited by 184Electrocatalysts for Energy ConversionAerogels and thermal insulationCatalytic Processes in Materials Science

Unveiling reductant chemistry in fabricating noble metal aerogels for superior oxygen evolution and ethanol oxidation

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Du, Ran, Wang, Jinying, Wang, Ying, Hübner, René, Fan, Xuelin, Senkovska, Irena, Hu, Yue, Kaskel, Stefan +1 more·2020·Nature Communications
DOI 10.1038/s41467-020-15391-wPMC PMC7101436
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Abstract

Abstract Amongst various porous materials, noble metal aerogels attract wide attention due to their concurrently featured catalytic properties and large surface areas. However, insufficient understanding and investigation of key factors (e.g. reductants and ligands) in the fabrication process limits on-target design, impeding material diversity and available applications. Herein, unveiling multiple roles of reductants, we develop an efficient method, i.e. the excessive-reductant-directed gelation strategy. It enables to integrate ligand chemistry for creating gold aerogels with a record-high specific surface area (59.8 m 2 g −1 ), and to expand the composition to all common noble metals. Moreover, we demonstrate impressive electrocatalytic performance of these aerogels for the ethanol oxidation and oxygen evolution reaction, and discover an unconventional organic-ligand-enhancing effect. The present work not only enriches the composition and structural diversity of noble metal aerogels, but also opens up new dimensions for devising efficient electrocatalysts for broad material systems.

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  • Metal aerogels (MAs) consist of nanosized metal building blocks and have self-supporting porous networks with excellent conductivity and ultralow density, allowing wide use in electrocatalysis for water splitting and fuel cells.

    “Metal aerogels (MAs) consist of the building blocks of nanosized metals, and showing the structural characteristics of self-supporting porous networks, such as excellent conductivity, and ultralow density, to allow their wide use in electrocatalysis for water splitting and fuel cells.”

    From Interfacial electron modulation for Ru particles on Cu aerogel as an efficient electrocatalyst for hydrogen evolution reaction (2024) · cites this paper as [20]

    The Introduction describes nanoparticle-based, self-supported porous aerogels with rapid electron-transfer channels, and the Results report electrocatalysis relevant to water splitting and direct ethanol fuel cells. The paper does not characterize the aerogels as having ultralow density, so that part of the attributed description is not established by our copy. (LLM, conf=0.82)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

  • The binding force of BO2− and gold is quite weak (Eb = 0.397 kcal mol−1).

    “The binding force of BO2 − and gold is quite weak (Eb = 0.397 kcal mol−1);8”

    From Ultrafast Generation of Nanostructured Noble Metal Aerogels by a Microwave Method for Electrocatalytic Hydrogen Evolution and Ethanol Oxidation (2021) · cites this paper as [8]

  • Noble metal aerogels appeared in 2009 and possess desirable aerogel properties along with excellent catalytic activity, self-supported architectures, and electrical conductivity.

    “Noble metal aerogels are relatively recent members of aerogel family appeared in 2009 [13] and possess all the desirable properties of aerogels along with excellent catalytic activity, self-supported architectures, and electrical conductivity [14].”

    From Aerogels for Electrocatalytic Hydrogen Production (2024) · cites this paper as [13]

  • Au-Ir aerogels exhibited better activity and stability compared to commercial Ir-based electrocatalysts in acid electrolyte.

    “the electrocatalyst exhibited better performance in terms of activity and stability compared to commercial Ir-based electrocatalysts.”

    From Aerogels for Electrocatalytic Hydrogen Production (2024) · cites this paper as [13]

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Cited by

Sorted by citations

Authors
Du, R., Wang, J., Wang, Y., Hübner, R., Fan, X., Senkovska, I., Hu, Y., Kaskel, S., & Eychmüller, A.
Affiliations
  • Technische Universität Dresden (DE)
  • Purdue University West Lafayette (US)
  • Wenzhou University (CN)
  • Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (DE)
Corresponding author
  • Hu, Yue
  • Eychmüller, Alexander
ORCID
Venue
Nature Communications
Publisher
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Published
2020-03-27
Volume
11
Issue
1
Pages
1590-1590
ISSN
2041-1723 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.1038/s41467-020-15391-w
PMC
PMC7101436
OpenAlex
W3014028443
Cited by
184
References
4
Citations by year
2026: 14 · 2025: 35 · 2024: 32 · 2023: 30 · 2022: 30 · 2021: 36 · 2020: 7
FWCI
5.09
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • Nature Communications (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
  • DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
Funders
  • Alexander von Humboldt-Stiftung
  • National Natural Science Foundation of China (51972237)
  • Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung (03SF0451)
  • China Scholarship Council
  • Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf
  • Chinese Government Scholarship
  • Natural Science Foundation of Zhejiang Province (LY19E020008)
Topics
  • Physical Sciences › Energy › Renewable Energy, Sustainability and the Environment › Electrocatalysts for Energy Conversion
  • Physical Sciences › Chemistry › Spectroscopy › Aerogels and thermal insulation
  • Physical Sciences › Materials Science › Materials Chemistry › Catalytic Processes in Materials Science
Keywords
ligand chemistry, specific surface area, oxygen evolution reaction, ethanol oxidation, electrocatalysts

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