Highly Exposed Ultra‐Small High‐Entropy Sulfides with d‐p Orbital Hybridization for Efficient Oxygen Evolution

Precise regulation of electronic structure and nanoscale geometry represents a transformative strategy for breaking the activity-stability trade-off in oxygen evolution electrocatalysts. Here, highly exposed ultra-small high-entropy sulfides (HES, 5.2 nm) confined in porous carbon nanofibers are designed. This structure involves a dual-engineering synergistic effect combining d-p orbital hybridization and nanoconfinement. X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) and density functional theory (DFT) calculations reveal hybridization between transition metal 3d orbitals and sulfur 3p orbitals. This orbital interaction induces a d-band center shift toward the Fermi level and facilitates interfacial charge redistribution, endowing HES with superior electron-donating capability to accelerate proton-coupled electron transfer kinetics. Such electronic modulation significantly optimizes the adsorption of oxygen evolution reaction (OER) intermediates (<sup>*</sup>OH, <sup>*</sup>O, <sup>*</sup>OOH). Experimentally, the HES demonstrates exceptional OER performance, exhibiting a low overpotential of 200 mV at 10 mA cm<sup>-2</sup> and remarkable durability with negligible current decay during 300 h operation across current densities ranging from 10 to 100 mA cm<sup>-2</sup>. This work establishes a dual optimization strategy leveraging orbital hybridization engineering and size engineering for advanced electrocatalyst design, providing a new design approach in energy conversion technologies.

Authors

Institutions

Publication Details

Journal
Advanced Materials
Published
2025-06-03
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1002/adma.202508610
Citations
27
Primary Topic
Electrocatalysts for Energy Conversion
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
9.81

Funders

Controls
|||
ALL TIME
JAN
FEB
MAR
APR
MAY
JUN
JUL
AUG
SEP
OCT
article

Highly Exposed Ultra‐Small High‐Entropy Sulfides with d‐p Orbital Hybridization for Efficient Oxygen Evolution

Hengpan Yang, Qing‐Miao Hu, Huizhu Cai, Shijie He et al.
27 citations
Advanced Materials
Electrocatalysts for Energy Conversion
9.81
article

Highly Exposed Ultra‐Small High‐Entropy Sulfides with d‐p Orbital Hybridization for Efficient Oxygen Evolution

Hengpan Yang, Qing‐Miao Hu, Huizhu Cai, Shijie He, Fengting Luo, Chuanxin He, Xue Zhang, Qian Huang
article en
27 citations

Abstract

Precise regulation of electronic structure and nanoscale geometry represents a transformative strategy for breaking the activity-stability trade-off in oxygen evolution electrocatalysts. Here, highly exposed ultra-small high-entropy sulfides (HES, 5.2 nm) confined in porous carbon nanofibers are designed. This structure involves a dual-engineering synergistic effect combining d-p orbital hybridization and nanoconfinement. X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) and density functional theory (DFT) calculations reveal hybridization between transition metal 3d orbitals and sulfur 3p orbitals. This orbital interaction induces a d-band center shift toward the Fermi level and facilitates interfacial charge redistribution, endowing HES with superior electron-donating capability to accelerate proton-coupled electron transfer kinetics. Such electronic modulation significantly optimizes the adsorption of oxygen evolution reaction (OER) intermediates (<sup>*</sup>OH, <sup>*</sup>O, <sup>*</sup>OOH). Experimentally, the HES demonstrates exceptional OER performance, exhibiting a low overpotential of 200 mV at 10 mA cm<sup>-2</sup> and remarkable durability with negligible current decay during 300 h operation across current densities ranging from 10 to 100 mA cm<sup>-2</sup>. This work establishes a dual optimization strategy leveraging orbital hybridization engineering and size engineering for advanced electrocatalyst design, providing a new design approach in energy conversion technologies.

Advanced MaterialsVol. 37(33)
Shenzhen University (CN)
National Natural Science Foundation of China
Affordable and clean energy
Openalex Percentile: Top 1%
Electrocatalysts for Energy Conversion
9.81
AI Navigator

Ask Laika to Summarize, Analyze, and Connect papers live on the map.

Summarize Papers & Methodologies

Extract key findings, datasets, and comparative methods across publications.

Benchmark Rankings & Visual Analytics

Rank top research institutions, authors, funders, topics, and journals by Field-Weighted Citation Impact (FWCI) and paper volume with instant charts.

Connect Distant Disciplines

Bridge topological clusters on the map to find hidden collaborative intersections.