Y. Du

Soochow University (PRC) | SUDA · Department of Chemistry

Mixing hydrated water into the dopant layer prolongs the operational stability of n-type carbon nanotubes (CNTs). Supramolecular interactions with Li⁺ increase the water adsorption of the dopant layer, hinder atmospheric oxygen from entering the CNT structure, and extend the n-type lifetime at 373 K from 6 to 16 d.

The precise design and development of high-performing oxygen evolution reaction (OER) for the production of industrial hydrogen gas through water electrolysis has been a widely studied topic. A profound understanding of the nature of electrocatalytic processes reveals that Ni-based catalysts are highly active toward OER that can stably operate at a...

Bimetallic two-dimensional (2D) nanomaterials are widely used in electrocatalysis owing to their unique physicochemical properties, while trimetallic 2D materials of porous structures with large surface area are rarely reported. In this paper, a one-pot hydrothermal synthesis of ternary ultra-thin PdPtNi nanosheets is developed. By adjusting the vo...

Three dimensional (3D) noble-metal nanomaterials with special surface structures have been regarded as high-performance catalysts for alcohol oxidation on account of their superior thermal stability, electrical conductivity and large specific surface area. Although extensive efforts have been devoted to the preparation of 3D Pd-based catalysts with...

Amorphous/crystalline (a/c) metal-oxide nanocages with defects are promising materials towards the realization of efficient water electrocatalysis. In this work, we not only constructed a Ru doping porous nanocages (PNCs) structure, but also studied the relationship between both crystallinity of a/c degrees and oxygen vacancy (Ovac) levels in a/c C...

Porous nanospheres (PNSs) have great development prospects in the electrocatalysis field because of their structural characteristics, such as a large specific surface area. However, it is still a challenge to find a simple and energy-saving method for the controllable synthesis of PNS nanocatalysts. In this paper, a one-pot CTAC-assisted strategy w...

The notable surface plasmon resonance (SPR) effect of some metals has been applied to improve the efficiency of alcohol oxidation reactions, whereas the comprehensive investigation of Cu-assisted photoelectrocatalysis remains challenging. We herein successfully prepared trimetallic PdAgCu nanospheres (NSs) with abundant surface bulges for the advan...

Metal-organic framework (MOF) has become a popular electrocatalyst for the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) because of its large specific surface area and adjustable porosity. Nevertheless, the electrochemical performance of MOFs has been greatly limited by poor intrinsic conductivity and catalytic activity. Herein, we report a Ce-doped nanoflower-l...

Developing highly efficient electrocatalysts based on appropriate heterojunction engineering and electronic structure modification for the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) has been extensively recognized as an effective approach to increase the efficiency of water splitting. Herein, ultralow Pt-loaded (1 %) NiCoFeP@NiCoFe-PBA hollow nanocages with w...

The rational phase engineering on transition-metal-based (TM-based) catalysts is an efficient strategy to improve the catalytic performance for oxygen evolution reaction (OER) and hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) in water splitting. Combining high conductivity from crystalline phase with orderly atomic arrangement and high activity from amorphous...

Exploiting earth-abundant and highly effective electrocatalysts toward oxygen evolution reaction (OER) is critical for boosting water splitting efficiency. Herein, we proposed a novel one-step phosphoselenization strategy to fabricate a heterostructured...

Rational design of facile and low-cost efficient electrocatalysts for oxygen evolution reaction (OER) is crucial to solve the energy crisis. Benefiting from in situ self-reconstruction from metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) to (oxy)hydroxides in alkaline electrolytes, MOFs have become alternative OER catalysts. Thus, Fe-doped Co-MOF nanosheets (Co-MO...

The semiconductor properties of a carbon nanotube film can be changed from p-type to n-type by molecular wrapping of oxyethylene surfactants.

Flexible p–n thermoelectric generator (TEG) technology has rapidly advanced with power enhancement and size reduction. To achieve a stable power supply and highly efficient energy conversion, absolute chemical stability of n‐type materials is essential to ensuring large temperature differences between device terminals and ambient stability. With th...

The noble metal anodic catalysts with three-dimension (3D) chain-like network structure have been researched thoroughly due to their unique morphological characteristics. Herein, a novel scheme has been designed rationally to synthesize 3D PdPb nanochain networks (PdPb NCNs). Numerous nanochains were interlaced and stacked to form the nanonetworks,...

The development of efficient and stable Pd-based electrocatalysts is extremely important to facilitate the development of catalysts for polyol oxidation reactions. To synthesize Pd-based catalysts with excellent catalytic performance, a series of PdAg porous nanowires (PdAg PNWs) with different elemental ratios was constructed by facile synthesis u...

The development of efficient and stable nanomaterial electrocatalysts for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) is of great significance for renewable energy conversion via water electrolysis. Herein, we have developed a novel class of bimetallic RuM (M=Ni, Co) hollow nanorods (HNRs) through a facile Fe³⁺ etching strategy, as electrocatalysts for e...

In this work, the ultrasensitive photoelectrochemical (PEC) sensor for the detection of bovine hemoglobin (BHb) was developed based on water-soluble pillar[5]arenes (WP5) functionalized gold nanoparticles (Au NPs) and bismuth oxybromide (BiOBr) nanoflowers ([email protected]/BiOBr). The photoelectrical signal of dopamine (DA) was decreased after ad...

Coupling the unique surface plasmon resonance (SPR) of plasma metals with electrocatalysis is of huge challenge but great significance to advance alcohol oxidation. Herein, we demonstrate the commendable SPR effect of Cu harvesting solar energy to boost the electrocatalytic efficiency of ethylene glycol oxidation reaction (EGOR) over 3D ultrathin l...

The heterogeneous interface engineering of nanocatalysts has been proved as an efficient strategy to promote the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) catalytic performance. Different form the conventional hollow structures, the yolk-shell construction could defend the distortion and dissolution during OER for stability improvement. However, it is still...

In this study, an ultrasensitive and specific photoelectrochemical (PEC) immunosensor was designed for carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) detection. Benefitting from the ascorbic acid (AA) used as an electron donor that led to a notable change in the photocurrent density, pillar[5]arene functionalized Au and Polyaniline-Bismuth oxybromide heterojunctio...

Pillar [5]arene, a new water-soluble carboxylatopillar [5]arene ammonium salts (WP5), has been employed as the host for complexation of guest molecules. Herein, a visible light driven WP5 functionalized gold nanoparticles ([email protected]) was fabricated for ultrasensitive photelectrochemical (PEC) detection of caffeic acid (CA). The ultraviolet–...

The development of highly active and earth-rich electrocatalysts remains a formidable challenge for the commercialization of fuel cells. Herein, a composite carrier composed of cobaltous telluride (CoTe) and carbon (C) has been designed for the first time to enhance the electrocatalytic performance of palladium (Pd) nanoparticles (NPs) for the elec...

Since future energy harvesting technologies require stable supply and high-efficiency energy conversion, there is an increasing demand for high-performance organic thermoelectric generators (TEGs) based on waterproof thermoelectric materials. The poor stability of n-type organic semiconductors in air and water has proved a roadblock in the developm...

The noble-metal-based catalysts (NMBCs) have always been the promising catalytic materials in fuel cell electrocatalysis. Among diversified NMBCs, one dimension (1D) construction endows them with unique anisotropic structure, large specific surface area, and high flexibility and stability, which contribute to the superior catalytic behaviors than t...

Low-dimensional noble-metal materials (LDNMs) with different structural advantages have been considered as the high-performance catalysts for C2 alcohol electrooxidation. However, it is still a great challenging to precisely construct nanomaterials with low-dimensional composite structure thus to take advantages of various dimension, especial witho...

Two-dimensional (2D) nanomaterials with nanopore display an enhancement effect on electrocatalysis behavior, whereas the nanopore engineering for 2D nanocatalysts remains an insurmountable challenge. We advance the synthesis of multilayer Pd nanoplates (Pd NPs) and two types of meshy nanoplates (Pd LMNPs/MNPs) with escalating nanopores from none an...

We developed a simple method to obtain the PdPtAu@Pd core@shell catalyst for methanol oxidation reaction. The PdPtAu@Pd exhibited superior photo-electrocatalytic behaviors, whose mass activity is 2.3 and 6.7 times higher than Pt/C and Pd/C.

The design and scale-up of carbon nanotube (CNT)-based thermoelectric (TE) modules is limited by the low structural similarity between p-type enhancers and n-dopants. This study was aimed at investigating the organic TE properties of polyazacycloalkane/CNT TE films prepared using the drop casting method and the effect of Cu ion doping that can coor...

Networked nanowire (NNW)-structured catalysts have attracted extensive attention due to their large surface area and structural stability, which mean that they have excellent catalytic activity and stability and can be used as anode reaction catalysts for use in direct alcohol fuel cells (DAFCs). Herein, a series of networked PdSn nanowires synthes...

Owing to their well-known instability in air, organic n-type semiconductors must be doped to protect them from moisture and oxygen. Such doping is crucial for producing soft flexible devices that can convert large amounts of low-temperature waste heat into electrical energy. Herein, we report the preparation and thermoelectric properties of drop-ca...

Electro-oxidation of glycerol is a key anodic reaction in direct alcohol fuel cell (DAFCs). Exploring the cost-effective nanocatalysts for glycerol oxidation reaction (GOR) is very important for the development of DAFC, but it is still challenging. In this paper, nanofirework-like PtRu alloy catalyst was successfully synthesized and used for GOR in...

Pd‐based nanomaterials are regarded as good substitutes for Pt‐based nanocatalysts for catalyzing alcohols oxidation. To further improve the catalytic performance and reduce the cost of Pd‐based nanomaterials, morphology control and alloying are effective strategies. Herein, we synthesized PdIn nanocrystals with different morphologies for the elect...

Optimizing the electronic and synergistic effect of hybrid electrocatalysts based on Pt and Pt‐based nanocatalysts is of tremendous importance towards a superior hydrogen evolution performance under both acidic and alkaline conditions. However, developing an ideal Pt‐based hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) electrocatalyst with moderated electronic...

The core@shell structure dimension of the Pd‐based nanocrystals deeply impacts their catalytic properties for C1 and C2 alcohol oxidation reactions. However, the precise simultaneous control on the synthesis of core@shell nanocrystals with different shell dimensions is difficult, and most synthesis on Pd‐based core@shell nanocatalysts involves the...

Urea electro-oxidation reaction (UOR) has been a promising strategy to replace oxygen evolution reaction (OER) by urea-mediated water splitting for hydrogen production. Naturally, rational design of high-efficiency and multifunctional electrocatalyst towards UOR and hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) is of vital significance, but still a grand chall...

The p-type properties of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) in organic thermoelectric devices need urgent improvement for large-scale, low-grade thermal energy applications. Here, we present a suitable approach to significantly enhance the power factor (PF) by increasing the electrical conductivity through the low-temperature calcination-induced pyrolysis of...

Multi-dimensional noble metal-based catalysts (including zero-dimensional (0D), one-dimensional (1D), two-dimensional (2D), and three-dimensional (3D) catalysts, MNMCs), have received great attention due to their unique physicochemical properties and enhanced catalytic properties. Recently, developing precise and universal strategies to synthesize...

The thermoelectric conversion capabilities and stabilities of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) in n-type organic semiconductors are important properties that urgently need improvement for large-scale and low-grade thermal energy applications. Importantly, conventional methods for preparing n-type CNT sheets are disadvantageous because they are incompatible...

Nanomaterials with both one-dimensional structure and surface defect are attractive for electrocatalysis owing to the increased atomic utilization and exposed high-energetic sites. Herein, utilizing the alkali etching to drive structure reconstruction, a class of Co-modified PtTe2 nanorods (ae-PtTeCo NRs) with surface defects are designed for effic...

Recently, intensive attention has been attracted to the two-dimensional metal nanosheets, owing to their excellent electrocatalytic performance for direct alcohol fuel cells (DAFCs). Herein, PdRu nanosheets have been synthesized successfully by a facile one-pot method. The rugged nanosheet structure provided plentiful surface active sites to enhanc...

As one of the most abundant resources on the Earth, seawater is not only a promising electrolyte for industrial hydrogen production through electrolysis, but also of great significance for the refining of edible salt. Despite the great potential for large-scale hydrogen production, the implementation of water electrolysis requires efficient and sta...

For accelerating the reaction kinetics of oxygen evolution reaction (OER) and improving the efficiency of water electrolysis, it is essential to develop high-performance and robust OER electrocatalysts. Herein, heterostructured ruthenium-cobalt oxide hollow nanoboxes are developed for enabling a highly efficient OER electrocatalysis. Benefitting fr...

It is of great significance to develop a simple, cheap, and efficient catalyst preparation method for the development of fuel cells. Despite considerable developmental efforts have been substantial, progress has been underwhelming. To this end, a simple one-pot approach has been designed for the fabrication of Pd–Ag alloy networks (NWs) catalysts u...

Although great progress has been made in the synthesis of metal nanoparticles, their good repeatability and accurate predictability are still difficult to achieve. This difficulty can be attributed to synthetic method based primarily on observation and subjective experience, and the role of many surfactants remains unclear. It should be noted that...

Pd‐ and Pd‐based catalysts have emerged as potential alternatives to Pt‐ and Pt‐based catalysts for numerous electrocatalytic reactions, particularly fuel cell‐related reactions, including the anodic fuel oxidation reaction (FOR) and cathodic oxygen reduction reaction (ORR). The creation of Pd‐ and Pd‐based architectures with large surface areas, n...

Water electrolysis technology holds the perfect promise of the hydrogen production, yet control of efficiency and rate of water electrolysis greatly relies on the availability of high-performance electrode materials for kinetic-sluggish oxygen evolution reaction (OER). Accordingly, substantial endeavors have been made to explore advanced electrode...

The ability to manipulate heterostructures is of great importance to achieve high-performance electrocatalysts for direct water-splitting devices with excellent activity toward hydrogen production. Herein, a novel top-down strategy involving the in situ transformation of one-dimensional MoO3 nanorod arrays grafted with two-dimensional NiS nanosheet...

Herein, gold-nitrogen-doped graphene quantum dot (Au/NGQD) composite modified electrodes were fabricated and applied as "on-off" nanosensors for the photo-electrochemical (PEC) detection of caffeic acid under visible-light irradiation. An effective and simple strategy was established for the preparation of Au/NGQD composites by hydrothermal and cal...

The development of clean sustainable energy technologies has been significantly promoted by advances in electrocatalysts, especially for low‐dimensional metallic nanomaterials (LDMNs), which have distinctive structural, physiochemical, and electronic properties, including a highly active surface area, efficient electron transfer, and rich surface u...

Developing highly efficient overall water splitting (OWS) electrocatalysts based on noble-metal-free materials to produce fuel is stimulated by increasing concerns regarding global energy security and environment contamination. Tremendous accomplishments in the design and fabrication of non-noble metal counterpart to substitute the noble metal cata...

Fiber-based flexible thermoelectric (TE) generators are highly desirable for their capability of converting electricity from thermal energy and their potential applications in wearable and portable electron devices. Herein, by inducing the gelation of conducting polymer PEDOT:PSS, we successfully prepared PEDOT:PSS/tellurium nanowires (PEDOT:PSS/Te...

Despite amounts of researches in recent years, it is still desirable but challenging to fabricate well-defined bifunctional catalysts with high performance towards alcohol oxidation and hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). Herein, a unique trimetallic PdCuIr catalyst with a nanocage (NC) structure is synthesized to be an excellent bifunctional cataly...

Hollow nanostructures with intricate interior and catalytic effects have been the focus of researchers in energy conversion and storage. Although tremendous efforts have been made, the fabrication of well-defined hollow nanostructures has been rarely reported due to the limitations of the synthetic methods. Herein, we have proposed a general synthe...

Noble metal materials with favorable electronic and geometric structure are considered as outstanding electrocatalysts for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). However, it is still a grand challenge to increase the specific surface area of the catalyst to expose more active sites from structural advantages and optimize the adsorption/desorption energ...

The fabrication of low-temperature waste heat power conversion modules will require the development of thermoelectric materials based on mass-produced nanotubes such as super-growth carbon nanotubes (SGCNTs), rather than high-quality nanotubes generated on the laboratory scale. In this work, SGCNT films co-loaded with colloidal ZnO (which has a hig...

It remains an immense challenge to design robust electrocatalysts for HER both in acidic and alkaline electrolytes. Herein, we report a partially phosphating of metal-organic frameworks strategy to prepare a hybrid catalyst of FeNi alloy/FeNi phosphide with ultralow doped Pt (only 0.4 atom%). With effectively modulated electronic configurations and...

A novel dual mode sensing platform is constructed for highly selective detection of H2S, attributing to the efficient electrochemical (EC) and photoelectrochemical (PEC) signal responses of the TiO2/Bi2WO6/Ag heterojunction. On the one hand, TiO2/Bi2WO6/Ag heterojunction with excellent catalytic performance for the reduction of H2O2 could be employ...

Anode catalyst is one of the core components of fuel cell, but its poor catalytic activity, short lifespan, and high price are tricky problems to the commercialization of fuel cell. Herein, a novel rod-like MnO2 decorated reduced graphene oxide (RGO) supported Pd hybrid (Pd/RGO-MnO2) has been designed, which manifests more negative onset oxidation...

One-dimensional (1D) Pt-based nanowires (NWs) materials are serving as efficient catalysts in alcohol electrocatalysis. However, precise tailoring their size towards sub-one-nanometer scale has been verified effective methods for enhancing electrocatalytic properties, which is rarely studied. In this work, we have developed a one-pot simple yet eff...

Thermoelectric technology is used to convert heat energy to electric energy and vice versa, which is an interesting technology to recover elec- tric energy from waste heat. In this study, we focused on a ternary hybrid system consisting of carbon nanotubes, polymers, and Ag nano- plates. The Seebeck coefficient hardly changed even when poly (N-viny...

Electrocatalytic oxygen evolution reaction (OER) based on geometric structure and interfacial-site engineering of catalysts is an excellent strategy for the hydrogen production by water electrolysis. Herein, a novel class of three-dimensional (3D) CoMoOx/CoMoSx/CoSx (CoMoOS) nanoboxes (NBs) electrocatalysts with abundant interfaces is designed thro...

Pd‐based nanosheet materials have emerged as efficient catalysts for monobasic and polyhydric alcohol oxidation reactions. However, most reported synthetic methods of Pd‐based nanosheets (NSs) are nonuniversal and surfactant‐involved, leading to residue‐covered surfaces with drastically damaged electrocatalytic properties. Herein, a universal, surf...

At the frontier of electrocatalysis and heterogeneous reactions, significant effort has been devoted to Pt‐based nanomaterials owing to their advantages of tunable morphology and excellent catalytic properties. In contrast to Pt‐based nanocatalysts with other morphologies, nanowire catalysts, especially 1D ultrafine nanowire (NW) structure, are gar...

Due to the high-density (200) crystal planes and abundant active sites, cubic platinum nanomaterials have become outstanding electrocatalysts in promoting fuel cell reaction. However, because of the fact that the facet-controlled synthesis is difficult, it is still a grand challenge to synthesize a sequence of Pt-based nanocubes by a universal meth...

The construction of dual mode sensor has gained tremendous attention due to its high accuracy and sensitivity compared with a single-response system. Herein, a novel dual mode sensing platform based on a 3-dimensional (3D) ZnCdS/ZnIn2S4 double-shelled dodecahedral cages (DSDCs) is fabricated as the electrochemical (EC) - photoelectrochemical (PEC)...

High performance nanomaterial catalysts have attracted great attention on the application for the direct alcohol fuel cell. To improve the catalytic behavior, it is a challenge to modulate the surface structure and morphology of catalysts. We integrated properties of advanced networks nanostructure and [email protected] structure to form a series o...

In this study, we report a new ratiometric electrochemical sensor to accurately and selectively detect hydrogen sulfide (H2S) in biological samples. In this system, it contains electroactive Ag dendritic nanocomposites (NCs) as a special recognition element of H2S and methylene blue (MB) as an inner reference molecular for a built-in correction to...

Although great progress in pursuing high-performance catalysts for advanced electrocatalysis has been made, the design of high-efficiency electrocatalysts continues to be a huge challenge for commercializing electrochemical energy technologies. Herein, a three-dimensional (3D) hierarchical assembly nanostructure consisting of ultrathin Ir-doped Pd...

Owing to the synergistic compositional and structural advantages, the ultrathin bimetallic nanosheet assemblies nanostructures are thus widely recognized as advanced catalysts for alcohol electrooxidation reaction. Although vast efforts have been made, the fabrication of well-defined ultrathin bimetallic nanosheet assemblies (NSAs) at large scale i...

Although the great successes that have been accomplished on the controlled synthesis of 2D and 3D Pd-containing nanomaterials, tapping into the novel Pd-containing electrocatalysts that combined the advantages of both 2D and 3D structures remains a significant challenge. Here, an approach to systematically produce porous Fe-doped Pd nanosheets asse...

Electrochemical sensors have the high sensitivity, fast response, and simple operation for applications in biological, medical, and chemical detection, but limited by the poor stability and high cost of the electrode materials. In this work, we used PtNi lagged-like nanowire for caffeic acid (CA) electrochemical detection. The removal of outer laye...

Recently, nitrogen-doped graphene quantum dots (NGQDs), as a new type of quantum semiconductor and photoelectrochemical material, are promising candidates in photoelectric sensing, water splitting, and biological imaging and have various potential application prospects. In this work, NGQDs were prepared by a simple calcination method, and then a ph...

Extraordinary attempts have been dedicated to increase the utilization efficiency, catalytic performance and decrease the economy of Pt based electrocatalyst for fuel cells due to its daunting price, extremely low earth storage and unsatisfied catalytic performance for practical applications in the past few decades. Recently, our group successfully...

Solar-assisted electrocatalytic water oxidation holds great promises in modern energy conversion and storage devices. Herein, we present the design and construction of an advanced class of Prussian blue analogs (PBA)/transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) hybrids, which combine the intrinsic electrocatalytic activity of TMDs for oxygen evolution r...

At present, although a large number of palladium-based nanowire electrocatalysts have been prepared, there are few reports on nanowires containing rich metal oxides. Herein, porous PdCu alloy nanowires and PdCu-SnO2 nanowires were prepared by using a galvanic displacement synthesis method. Due to their one-dimensional structure, rough surfaces with...