Vacancy-engineered catalysts for water electrolysis
Vacancy-engineered electrocatalysts showing various effects on improving performances toward water electrolysis.
Recent advances in transition metal based compound catalysts for water splitting from the perspective of crystal engineering
A review of the recent progress on the transition metal based catalysts for water splitting with emphasis on crystal engineering.
Flower-like tungsten-doped Fe–Co phosphides as efficient electrocatalysts for the hydrogen evolution reaction
In this article, we introduce W into Fe–Co phosphides to optimize the hydrogen adsorption energy thereby accelerating the kinetics of the HER.
Facile formation of Fe-doped NiCoP hollow nanocages as bifunctional electrocatalysts for overall water splitting
Rational design of electrocatalysts with unique morphological structures and chemical compositions is crucial for electrochemical performance and energy storage capacity.
Surface oxygen vacancies of TiO2 nanorods by electron beam irradiation for efficient photoelectrochemical water splitting
TiO2 nanorods with oxygen vacancies are produced via a facial, controllable and scalable high energy electron beam irradiation treatment, resulting in a remarkable enhancement of photocurrent density of about 85.4% at 1.23 VRHE.
Comparison of the effects of cation and phosphorus doping in cobalt-based spinel oxides towards the oxygen evolution reaction
Phosphorus incorporation further boosted the OER activity of cation-doped Co-based spinel oxides via remarkably tuning the oxygen vacancies, crystallinity and electrochemically active surface area on the surface.
Enhanced photoluminescence and photocatalytic performance of a TiO2–ZnWO4 nanocomposite induced by oxygen vacancies
We reported the enhanced photoluminescence and photocatalytic performance of a TiO2–ZnWO4 nanocomposite and discussed the mechanism behind the superior behavior in this study.
Few-layered CuInP2S6 nanosheet with sulfur vacancy boosting photocatalytic hydrogen evolution
Uniform few-layered CuInP2S6 nanosheets and microsheets were initially synthesized and utilized as photocatalysts towards photocatalytic hydrogen generation.
Optimization of the overall water-splitting performance of N, S co-doped carbon-supported NiCoMnSx−10 at high current densities by the introduction of sulfur defects and oxygen vacancies
This work reports the synthesis of N and S co-doped carbon-supported NiCoMnSx−10 electrocatalyst and its application in electrocatalytic overall water splitting.
Tuning of the morphological and electronic properties of In2S3 nanosheets by cerium ion intercalation for optimizing photocatalytic activity
The influence of cerium on the evolution of the morphological and optoelectronic properties of In2S3 nanostructures has been experimentally and theoretically investigated.
Engineering CuOx–ZrO2–CeO2 nanocatalysts with abundant surface Cu species and oxygen vacancies toward high catalytic performance in CO oxidation and 4-nitrophenol reduction
CuOx–ZrO2–CeO2 nanocrystalline catalysts were designed and synthesized by a solvent-free synthetic strategy, and exhibited excellent catalytic performance owing to the increased oxygen vacancies and better dispersed active metal species.
Defective crystal plane-oriented induced lattice polarization for the photocatalytic enhancement of ZnO
The mechanism of the photocatalytic reaction of defective ZnO systems was determined.
Cu-Deficient plasmonic Cu2−xS nanocrystals induced tunable photocatalytic activities
Cu-Deficient plasmonic Cu2−xS nanocrystals with tunable photocatalytic activities were synthesized and investigated.
About this collection
Vacancies, dopants, and defects are synonymous with imperfect atom ordering in crystalline materials. While dopants have been extensively exploited to fine-tune the material properties of semiconductors, the relevance of atom vacancies and defects to the activity and stability of nanoparticle-based catalysts has been recognized only recently. Intentional disturbance in the atom ordering in nanocatalysts has led to the development of nanocatalysts with exceptional catalytic activity and stability. However, the ability for controlled introduction of defects and vacancies to the desired locations and amounts, while maintaining the nanoparticle material phase is only at the fledgling stage, not to mention our understanding of the true origin of the superb catalytic performance of them. This selection of articles, handpicked by Associate Editor Professor Kwangyeol Lee, Korea University, would point to the importance of imperfect nanocrystals to the development of perfect nanocatalysts.