Recently, one of our faculty, Dr. Dewei Rao collaborated with Prof. Chai Yang in HongKong Polytechnic University  published research work in Nature Communication. Combining theoretical study with experimental work, Dr. Rao proposed an oxygen evolution reaction (OER) pathway on multicomponent FeCoCrNi alloy film catalyst.

By rational engineering, it enables the formation of highly oxidized metal species and tune on lattice oxygen activation mechanism (LOM) . In this work, multicomponent alloy (MCA) has successfully prepared, and through spectroscopic investigations and theoretical simulations, it is reveal that the interatomically electronic interplay in surface reconstructed multimetal (oxy)hydroxide (MO_xH_y) plays a key role on subtly engineering highly oxidized Ni⁴⁺ species to favor LOM pathway.

   The combination of theoretical calculations and experimental study can deeply reveal the mechanisms and should provide significant guidance for the design of new materials. Recently, Dr. Dewei Rao collaborated with Prof. Liu Tianxi (Jiangnan University) and Prof. Ivan P Parkin (University College London) to study the nitrogen reduction reaction (NRR). Based on theoretical simulations, a “sandwich”-structured CBC/Vr-ReSe₂@CBC/CBC membrane with hydrophobic surface was prepared and its electroactivity on NRR was also measured, which has been published on Angewandte Chemie International Edition.

   It is an important way to improve the research works via cooperating with other high-level scientists. In the past three years, Dr. Rao has published many research works with his collaborators in famous scientific journals, including Advanced Materials, Angewandte Chemie International Edition，ACS Nano, Small and so on.

Links:

Nature Communications, 11, 4066 (2020)

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-020-17934-7

Angewandte Chemie International Edition, 59, 13320-13327 (2020)

https://www.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/anie.202003129