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Application of X-ray absorption spectroscopy in carbon-supported electrocatalysts

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Abstract

Breakthroughs in energy storage and conversion devices depend heavily on the exploration of low-cost and high-performance materials. Carbon-supported electrocatalysts with dimensional varieties have recently attracted significant attention due to their strong structural flexibility and easy accessibility. Nevertheless, understanding the connection between their electronic, structural properties, and catalytic performance must remain a top priority. Synchrotron radiation (SR) X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) techniques, including hard XAS and soft XAS, are recognized as efficient and comprehensive platforms for probing the surface, interface, and bulk electronic structure of elements of interest in the materials community. In the past decade, the flourishing development of materials science and advanced characterization technologies have led to a deeper understanding at different temporal, longitudinal, and spatial scales. In this review, we briefly describe the concept of XAS techniques and summarize their recent progress in addressing scientific questions on carbon-supported electrocatalysts through the development of advanced instruments and experimental methods. We then discuss the remaining challenges and potential research directions in next-generation materials frontiers, and suggest challenges and perspectives for shedding light on the structure–activity relationship.

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Acknowledgements

This work was financially supported in part by the National Key R&D Program of China (Nos. 2020YFA0405800, 2022YFA1504104, and 2022YFA1605400), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 12225508, 12322515, U1932201, U2032113, and 22075264), the Youth Innovation Promotion Association of CAS (No. 2022457), the Institute of Energy, Hefei Comprehensive National Science Center, University Synergy Innovation Program of Anhui Province (No. GXXT-2020-002), and the CAS Iterdisciplinary Innovation Team. We thank the Shanghai Synchrotron Radiation Facility (BL14W1, BL14B1, and SSRF), the Beijing Synchrotron Radiation Facility (1W1B, 4B7A, and BSRF), the Hefei Synchrotron Radiation Facility (Infrared Spectroscopy and Microspectroscopy, MCD-A and MCD-B Soochow Beamline for Energy Materials at NSRL), and the USTC Center for Micro and Nanoscale Research and Fabrication for helps in characterizations. We sincerely appreciate the kind guidance and great inspiration from Prof. Sishen Xie.

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  1. Beibei Sheng and Yongheng Chu contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. National Synchrotron Radiation Laboratory, CAS Center for Excellence in Nanoscience, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, 230026, China

    Beibei Sheng, Yongheng Chu, Dengfeng Cao, Yujian Xia, Chongjing Liu, Shuangming Chen & Li Song

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  1. Beibei Sheng
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  2. Yongheng Chu
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Correspondence to Shuangming Chen or Li Song.

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Sheng, B., Chu, Y., Cao, D. et al. Application of X-ray absorption spectroscopy in carbon-supported electrocatalysts. Nano Res. 16, 12438–12452 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12274-023-6153-5

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