G. Gan, Xinyong Li, Liang Wang
Jul 16, 2020
Citations
0
Influential Citations
67
Citations
Journal
ACS nano
Abstract
Electrochemical dechlorination of 1,2-dichloroethane (DCE) is one of the prospective and economic strategies for the preparation of high-valuable ethylene. However, the exploration of advanced electrocatalysts with high reactivity and selectivity and the identification of their active sites are still a challenge. Herein, a single-atom (SA) Fe-Nx-C nanosheet with the presence of highly efficient Fe-N4 coordination pattern is reported. The as-prepared single-atom electrocatalyst exhibits a higher reactivity and ethylene selectivity for DCE dechlorination reaction than those of commercially adopted 20% Pt-C catalyst. By the combination of experiments and theoretical calculations, the atomically dispersed Fe center in Fe-N4 structure was unveiled to be the dominating active site for electrochemical production of ethylene. Our work would offer an approach for the rational development of SA materials and supply a crucial insight into the mechanism of ethylene production through the DCE dechlorination reaction.