Related Experiment Video
Updated: Feb 1, 2026

Quantitative Atomic-Site Analysis of Functional Dopants/Point Defects in Crystalline Materials by Electron-Channeling-Enhanced Microanalysis
Published on: May 10, 2021
Defect-Induced Pt-Co-Se Coordinated Sites with Highly Asymmetrical Electronic Distribution for Boosting
Linzhou Zhuang1, Yi Jia2, Hongli Liu3
1School of Chemical Engineering, the University of Queensland, Brisbane, 4072, Australia.
Abstract:
Rational design and synthesis of hetero-coordinated moieties at the atomic scale can significantly raise the performance of the catalyst and obtain mechanistic insight into the oxygen-involving electrocatalysis. Here, a facile plasma-photochemical strategy is applied to construct atomically coordinated Pt-Co-Se moieties in defective CoSe2 (CoSe2- x ) through filling the plasma-created Se vacancies in CoSe2- x with single Pt atomic species (CoSe2- x -Pt) under ultraviolet irradiation. The filling of single Pt can remarkably enhance the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) activity of CoSe2 . Optimal OER specific activity is achieved with a Pt content of 2.25 wt% in CoSe2- x -Pt, exceeding that of CoSe2- x by a factor of 9. CoSe2- x -Pt shows much better OER performance than CoSe2- x filled with single Ni and even Ru atomic species (CoSe2- x -Ni and CoSe2- x -Ru). Noticeably, it is general that Pt is not a good OER catalyst but Ru is; thus the design of active sites for electrocatalysis at an atomic level should follow a different intrinsic mechanism. Mechanism studies unravel that the single Pt can induce much higher electronic distribution asymmetry degree than both single Ni and Ru, and benefit the interaction between the Co sites and adsorbates (OH*, O*, and OOH*) during the OER process, leading to a better OER activity.
More Related Videos
11:14Comprehensive Characterization of Extended Defects in Semiconductor Materials by a Scanning Electron Microscope
Published on: May 28, 2016
09:37Optimized Negative Staining: a High-throughput Protocol for Examining Small and Asymmetric Protein Structure by Electron Microscopy
Published on: August 15, 2014
Related Concept Videos
Coordination Compounds and Nomenclature
Coordination Number and Geometry
Conserved Binding Sites
Binding sites are often located in large pockets, and if their location on a protein’s surface is unknown, it can be predicted using various approaches. The energetic method computationally...
Lattice Centering and Coordination Number
Types of Unit Cells
Imagine taking a large number of identical...
Electron Carriers
Over the many stages of cellular respiration, glucose breaks down into carbon dioxide and water. Electron carriers pick up electrons lost by glucose in these reactions, temporarily storing and releasing them into the electron...
Rotation of Asymmetric Top
The relationship between the angular momentum of any rigid body and its angular velocity, both of which are vectors, involves the moment of inertia. The moment of inertia is a scalar quantity only for spherically symmetric...