Synergistic regulation of morphology and electronic coupling of dual-ligand NiFe MOF for efficient electrocatalysis in multi-electrolyte water splitting
image: Bimetallic Dual-Ligand metal-organic framework (MOF) electrocatalysts can catalyze the electrooxidation reaction (OER) in multiple electrolyte environments under the control of microenvironment and electron coupling.
Credit: Nano Research, Tsinghua University Press
Environmental pollution and the energy crisis have led to increased attention on the production of clean energy. The oxygen evolution reaction (OER), an important half-reaction in electrocatalytic water splitting for hydrogen production, typically suffers from high overpotential and slow reaction kinetic. Among OER electrocatalytic materials, issues such as poor stability and limited catalytic environments remain unresolved. Furthermore, some designs for Metal-Organic Frameworks (MOFs) have not fully emphasized the excellent design flexibility of MOFs.
A team of material scientists led by Cuijuan Wang from Southwest Jiaotong University in Chengdu, China recently focused on highlighting the discovery of the electrocatalytic performance rules of a series of MOFs obtained by adjusting active sites and ligand regulation, and to explain this in conjunction with morphology, which has never been studied in detail before. Additionally, the innovation of this article lies in the application of the regulated MOFs in multiple systems, where they exhibit excellent performance and stability in all these systems.
The team published their review in Nano Research on April 15, 2025.
“In this study, we achieve efficient electrocatalysis for the electrooxidation reaction in multi-electrolyte systems by synergistically modulating structure and electronic coupling through rational design. Additionally, we highlight the crucial role of electronic coupling in optimizing electrocatalytic performance and offers new insights for addressing mitigating environmental pollution, embodying substantial practical and research potential,” said Cuijuan Wang from Southwest Jiaotong University. Prof. Wang also presides over several projects, including those of the National Natural Science Foundation, the Sichuan Provincial Science and Technology Support Program, and the projects of the Chengdu Science and Technology Bureau. Her main research focuses on the design and synthesis of metal-organic hybrid functional materials and their application research in fields such as photoelectric catalysis.
Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) are ordered crystalline structures formed by linking metal nodes with organic ligands. In the design of OER electrocatalysts, Ni-based MOFs have been extensively studied and utilized as modification foundations due to their excellent catalytic activity. Various research endeavors explored incorporating different metal nodes, altering ligand environments, doping compounds or single atoms.
The study has three aspects that will make it interesting to general readers. First, the research team discovered that the original MOF NFBF(6:2) (synthesized using Ni and Fe as metal nodes and H2BDC and FcDA as organic ligands, with a ratio of 6:2 between terephthalic acid (H2BDC) and ferrocene dicarboxylic acid (FcDA)) exhibits remarkable electrocatalytic water splitting performance, including low overpotential and excellent stability, which is a pioneering achievement. Second, they identified the synergistic regulation between morphology and electrocatalytic performance across nine different MOFs synthesized using Ni and Fe as metal nodes and varying ratios of H2BDC and FcDA as organic ligands. This finding provides valuable guidance for the future development of novel electrocatalytic materials. Third, the original MOF NFBF(6:2) demonstrates exceptional multi-environment electrocatalytic water splitting capabilities in alkaline (1M KOH), simulated urine (1M KOH + 0.33M urea), simulated seawater (1M KOH + 0.5M NaCl, 1M KOH + 1M NaCl), and real seawater, with consistently outstanding performance and superior stability..
Other contributors include Shuyan Fan, Xinping Han, Ling Li, Yan Xu, Wenyue Gao, Yan Zhang, Zhu Gao from Southwest Jiaotong University in Chengdu, China.
This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 21401151), Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (No. 2682023ZTPY064) and Sichuan Provincial Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine Project (No. Q115723S02001).
About the Authors
Dr. Cuijuan Wang, Associate Professor from Southwest Jiaotong University is in charge of several projects, such as those funded by the National Natural Science Foundation, the Sichuan Provincial Science and Technology Support Program, and the projects of Chengdu Science and Technology Bureau. Her main research areas cover the design and synthesis of meta-organic hybrid functional materials and their applications in fields like photoelectric catalysis. She has published several high-level SCI papers in renowned domestic and international journals, including J. Mater. Chem., ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces, Nano Res., Appl. Surf. Sci., Chem. Eng. J., Int. J. Biol. Macromol., Chem. Eur. J., and Nano Res. Energy. Her research achievements have won the "First Prize of Shaanxi Provincial Science and Technology Progress" and the "First Prize of Liangshan Prefecture Science and Technology Progress". For more information, please pay attention to his research homepage https://faculty.swjtu.edu.cn/wangcuijuan/en/index/107113/list/.
Dr. Zhu Gao, Assistant Professor, Southwest Jiaotong University, Master's supervisor. His main research interests include the construction of novel porous polymers and 2D heterojunction materials for photocatalytic CO2 reduction and organic synthesis. He has published several high-level SCI papers in Angew. Chem. Int. Ed., Chem. Eng. J., Sci. China Chem., Chin. J. Chem., J. Mater. Chem. A and other academic journals.
https://faculty.swjtu.edu.cn/gaozhu/zh_CN/index.htm
About Nano Research
Nano Research is a peer-reviewed, open access, international and interdisciplinary research journal, sponsored by Tsinghua University and the Chinese Chemical Society, published by Tsinghua University Press on the platform SciOpen. It publishes original high-quality research and significant review articles on all aspects of nanoscience and nanotechnology, ranging from basic aspects of the science of nanoscale materials to practical applications of such materials. After 18 years of development, it has become one of the most influential academic journals in the nano field. Nano Research has published more than 1,000 papers every year from 2022, with its cumulative count surpassing 7,000 articles. In 2024 InCites Journal Citation Reports, its 2024 IF is 9.0 (8.7, 5 years), and it continues to be the Q1 area among the four subject classifications. Nano Research Award, established by Nano Research together with TUP and Springer Nature in 2013, and Nano Research Young Innovators (NR45) Awards, established by Nano Research in 2018, have become international academic awards with global influence.