Nano-Design of Transition Metal Oxides for Energy Storage and Catalytic Application

A special issue of Inorganics (ISSN 2304-6740). This special issue belongs to the section "Inorganic Solid-State Chemistry".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 15 January 2025 | Viewed by 4124

Special Issue Editor


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Guest Editor
School of Physics and Electronic Science, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200241, China
Interests: nanomaterials for electrochemical energy storage; transition metal oxides; transmissiom electron microscopy

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Transition metal oxides play a critical role in the fields of energy storage and catalysis, owing to their exceptional properties and versatility. The significance of nano-designing for these materials cannot be overstated regarding achieving efficient energy storage and enhancing catalytic activity. By precisely manipulating factors such as size, morphology, doping, composition, and surface characteristics at the nanoscale, nanoengineered transition metal oxides exhibit an enlarged surface area, improved charge transfer kinetics, and tailored electronic properties, thereby enabling higher energy storage capacity, accelerated reaction rates, and superior selectivity in catalytic processes. Furthermore, the integration of multi-components at the nanoscale (HEOs, etc.) and the deliberate introduction of controlled defects lead to synergistic effects and optimized redox reactions, further augmenting their performance.

In this Special Issue, we aim to comprehensively cover the latest advancements in all these aspects of nano-design/engineering by hosting a mix of original research articles and critical reviews.

Prof. Dr. Zhenzhong Yang
Guest Editor

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Keywords

  • nanostructure
  • functional oxides
  • energy storage
  • catalysis

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

12 pages, 2694 KiB  
Article
Dielectric Spectroscopy of Non-Stoichiometric SrMnO3 Thin Films
by Shuang Zeng, Jing Yang, Qingqing Liu, Jiawei Bai, Wei Bai, Yuanyuan Zhang and Xiaodong Tang
Inorganics 2024, 12(3), 71; https://doi.org/10.3390/inorganics12030071 - 27 Feb 2024
Viewed by 1523
Abstract
The dielectric properties of non-stoichiometric SrMnO3 (SMO) thin films grown by molecular beam epitaxy were systematically investigated. Especially, the effects of cation stoichiometry-induced diverse types and densities of defects on the dielectric properties of SMO films were revealed. Two anomalous dielectric relaxation [...] Read more.
The dielectric properties of non-stoichiometric SrMnO3 (SMO) thin films grown by molecular beam epitaxy were systematically investigated. Especially, the effects of cation stoichiometry-induced diverse types and densities of defects on the dielectric properties of SMO films were revealed. Two anomalous dielectric relaxation behaviors were observed at different temperatures in both Sr-rich and Mn-rich samples. High-temperature dielectric relaxation, resulting from a short-range Mn-related Jahn–Teller (JT) polaron hopping motion, was reinforced by an enhancement of JT polaron density in the Sr-rich film, which contained abundant SrO Ruddlesden–Popper (R-P) stacking faults. However, an excessive number of disordered Sr vacancy clusters in Mn-rich thin film suppressed the hopping path of JT polarons and enormously weakened this dielectric relaxation. Thus, The Sr-rich film demonstrated a higher dielectric constant and dielectric loss than the Mn-rich film. In addition, low-temperature dielectric relaxation may be attributed to the polarization/charge glass state. Full article
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13 pages, 6616 KiB  
Article
A Core and Valence-Level Spectroscopy Study of the Enhanced Reduction of CeO2 by Iron Substitution—Implications for the Thermal Water-Splitting Reaction
by Hicham Idriss
Inorganics 2024, 12(2), 42; https://doi.org/10.3390/inorganics12020042 - 27 Jan 2024
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1793
Abstract
The reduction of Ce cations in CeO2 can be enhanced by their partial substitution with Fe cations. The enhanced reduction of Ce cations results in a considerable increase in the reaction rates for the thermal water-splitting reaction when compared to CeO2 [...] Read more.
The reduction of Ce cations in CeO2 can be enhanced by their partial substitution with Fe cations. The enhanced reduction of Ce cations results in a considerable increase in the reaction rates for the thermal water-splitting reaction when compared to CeO2 alone. This mixed oxide has a smaller crystallite size when compared to CeO2, in addition to a smaller lattice size. In this work, two Fe-substituted Ce oxides are studied (Ce0.95Fe0.05O2-δ and Ce0.75Fe0.25O2-δ; δ < 0.5) by core and valence level spectroscopy in their as-prepared and Ar-ion-sputtered states. Ar ion sputtering substantially increases Ce4f lines at about 1.5 eV below the Fermi level. In addition, it is found that the XPS Ce5p/O2s ratio is sensitive to the degree of reduction, most likely due to a higher charge transfer from the oxygen to Ce ions upon reduction. Quantitatively, it is also found that XPS Ce3d of the fraction of Ce3+ (uo, u′ and vo, v′) formed upon Ar ion sputtering and the ratio of Ce5p/O2s lines are higher for reduced Ce0.95Fe0.05O2-δ than for reduced Ce0.75Fe0.25O2-δ. XPS Fe2p showed, however, no preferential increase for Fe3+ reduction to Fe0 with increasing time for both oxides. Since water splitting was higher on Ce0.95Fe0.05O2-δ when compared to Ce0.75Fe0.25O2-δ, it is inferred that the reaction centers for the thermal water splitting to hydrogen are the reduced Ce cations and not the reduced Fe cations. These reduced Ce cations can be tracked by their XPS Ce5p/O2s ratio in addition to the common XPS Ce3d lines. Full article
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