Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 6, 2026
06:44
Tuning Oxide Properties by Oxygen Vacancy Control During Growth and Annealing
Published on: June 9, 2023
Phosphorus Vacancy-Induced Spin-State Inhomogeneity for Enhanced Bifunctional Oxygen and Urea Oxidation
Yudong Liu1, Feng Xie2, Zhigang Shao2
1School of Chemical Engineering and Technology, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, China.
Small (Weinheim an Der Bergstrasse, Germany)
|July 25, 2026
Summary
Developing advanced catalysts is key for sustainable hydrogen production. This study introduces a novel nickel-iron phosphide catalyst with phosphorus vacancies, showing superior performance in oxygen evolution and urea oxidation reactions.
Area of Science:
- Electrochemistry
- Materials Science
- Catalysis
Background:
- Efficient and durable catalysts are crucial for sustainable hydrogen production via oxygen evolution reaction (OER) and urea oxidation reaction (UOR).
- Achieving bifunctional catalysts for both OER and UOR is challenging due to varying intermediate binding energies.
Purpose of the Study:
- To develop a novel nickel-iron phosphide catalyst with phosphorus vacancies (Vp-NiFeP/NF) for enhanced OER and UOR activity and stability.
- To elucidate the role of phosphorus vacancies in the catalytic mechanisms of OER and UOR.
Main Methods:
- Synthesis of a phosphorus vacancy-enriched nickel-iron phosphide catalyst (Vp-NiFeP/NF).
- Electrochemical characterization of OER and UOR performance.
- In situ Raman spectroscopy and in situ Attenuated Total Reflectance-Surface-Enhanced Infrared Absorption Spectroscopy (ATR-SEIRAS) for mechanistic studies.
- Density Functional Theory (DFT) calculations to investigate the electronic structure and intermediate binding energies.
Main Results:
- Vp-NiFeP/NF exhibited ultra-high activity (222 mV at 10 mA cm⁻² for OER) and excellent stability.
- Phosphorus vacancies were shown to accelerate surface reconstruction and enhance urea oxidation selectivity by suppressing OH⁻ adsorption.
- DFT calculations confirmed that vacancies tune intermediate binding energies and improve catalytic efficiency for both reactions.
Conclusions:
- The developed Vp-NiFeP/NF catalyst offers a promising strategy for high-performance electrocatalysts in water splitting and urea oxidation.
- Phosphorus vacancies are critical for optimizing the electronic structure and catalytic pathways for bifunctional OER and UOR.
More Related Videos
Related Concept Videos
02:42Valence Bond Theory
Coordination compounds and complexes exhibit different colors, geometries, and magnetic behavior, depending on the metal atom/ion and ligands from which they are composed. In an attempt to explain the bonding and structure of coordination complexes, Linus Pauling proposed the valence bond theory, or VBT, using the concepts of hybridization and the overlapping of the atomic orbitals. According to VBT, the central metal atom or ion (Lewis acid) hybridizes to provide empty orbitals of suitable...
03:35Hybridization of Atomic Orbitals II
sp3d and sp3d 2 Hybridization
01:17Spin–Spin Coupling: One-Bond Coupling
Coupling interactions are strongest between NMR-active nuclei bonded to each other, where spin information can be transmitted directly through the pair of bonding electrons. While nuclei polarize their electrons to the opposite spins, the bonding electron pair has opposite spins. Configurations with antiparallel nuclear spins are expected to be lower in energy. When coupling makes antiparallel states more favorable, J is considered to have a positive value. The one-bond coupling constant, 1J,...
02:30Chirality at Nitrogen, Phosphorus, and Sulfur
Chirality is most prevalent in carbon-based tetrahedral compounds, but this important facet of molecular symmetry extends to sp3-hybridized nitrogen, phosphorus and sulfur centers, including trivalent molecules with lone pairs. Here, the lone pair behaves as a functional group in addition to the other three substituents to form an analogous tetrahedral center that can be chiral.
A consequence of chirality is the need for enantiomeric resolution. While this is theoretically possible for all...
A consequence of chirality is the need for enantiomeric resolution. While this is theoretically possible for all...
03:02Colors and Magnetism
Color in Coordination Complexes
When atoms or molecules absorb light at the proper frequency, their electrons are excited to higher-energy orbitals. For many main group atoms and molecules, the absorbed photons are in the ultraviolet range of the electromagnetic spectrum, which cannot be detected by the human eye. For coordination compounds, the energy difference between the d orbitals often allows photons in the visible range to be absorbed and emitted, which is seen as colors by the human eye.
When atoms or molecules absorb light at the proper frequency, their electrons are excited to higher-energy orbitals. For many main group atoms and molecules, the absorbed photons are in the ultraviolet range of the electromagnetic spectrum, which cannot be detected by the human eye. For coordination compounds, the energy difference between the d orbitals often allows photons in the visible range to be absorbed and emitted, which is seen as colors by the human eye.
01:06Nuclear Overhauser Enhancement (NOE)
Irradiation of a spin-active nucleus causes an increase or decrease in the signal intensity of neighboring nuclei that are not necessarily chemically bonded or involved in J-coupling. This phenomenon, called the nuclear Overhauser enhancement (NOE), results from through-space interactions between the nuclear spins. The NOE effect decreases with increasing internuclear distance and is generally not observed beyond 4 angstroms. In NOE, dipole-dipole interactions between neighboring spin-active...