@article{9305,
  abstract     = {Copper chalcogenides are outstanding thermoelectric materials for applications in the medium-high temperature range. Among different chalcogenides, while Cu2−xSe is characterized by higher thermoelectric figures of merit, Cu2−xS provides advantages in terms of low cost and element abundance. In the present work, we investigate the effect of different dopants to enhance the Cu2−xS performance and also its thermal stability. Among the tested options, Pb-doped Cu2−xS shows the highest improvement in stability against sulfur volatilization. Additionally, Pb incorporation allows tuning charge carrier concentration, which enables a significant improvement of the power factor. We demonstrate here that the introduction of an optimal additive amount of just 0.3% results in a threefold increase of the power factor in the middle-temperature range (500–800 K) and a record dimensionless thermoelectric figure of merit above 2 at 880 K.},
  author       = {Zhang, Yu and Xing, Congcong and Liu, Yu and Spadaro, Maria Chiara and Wang, Xiang and Li, Mengyao and Xiao, Ke and Zhang, Ting and Guardia, Pablo and Lim, Khak Ho and Moghaddam, Ahmad Ostovari and Llorca, Jordi and Arbiol, Jordi and Ibáñez, Maria and Cabot, Andreu},
  issn         = {2211-2855},
  journal      = {Nano Energy},
  number       = {7},
  publisher    = {Elsevier},
  title        = {{Doping-mediated stabilization of copper vacancies to promote thermoelectric properties of Cu2-xS}},
  doi          = {10.1016/j.nanoen.2021.105991},
  volume       = {85},
  year         = {2021},
}

@article{8189,
  abstract     = {Direct ethanol fuel cells (DEFCs) show a huge potential to power future electric vehicles and portable electronics, but their deployment is currently limited by the unavailability of proper electrocatalysis for the ethanol oxidation reaction (EOR). In this work, we engineer a new electrocatalyst by incorporating phosphorous into a palladium-tin alloy and demonstrate a significant performance improvement toward EOR. We first detail a synthetic method to produce Pd2Sn:P nanocrystals that incorporate 35% of phosphorus. These nanoparticles are supported on carbon black and tested for EOR. Pd2Sn:P/C catalysts exhibit mass current densities up to 5.03 A mgPd−1, well above those of Pd2Sn/C, PdP2/C and Pd/C reference catalysts. Furthermore, a twofold lower Tafel slope and a much longer durability are revealed for the Pd2Sn:P/C catalyst compared with Pd/C. The performance improvement is rationalized with the aid of density functional theory (DFT) calculations considering different phosphorous chemical environments. Depending on its oxidation state, surface phosphorus introduces sites with low energy OH− adsorption and/or strongly influences the electronic structure of palladium and tin to facilitate the oxidation of the acetyl to acetic acid, which is considered the EOR rate limiting step. DFT calculations also points out that the durability improvement of Pd2Sn:P/C catalyst is associated to the promotion of OH adsorption that accelerates the oxidation of intermediate poisoning COads, reactivating the catalyst surface.},
  author       = {Yu, Xiaoting and Liu, Junfeng and Li, Junshan and Luo, Zhishan and Zuo, Yong and Xing, Congcong and Llorca, Jordi and Nasiou, Déspina and Arbiol, Jordi and Pan, Kai and Kleinhanns, Tobias and Xie, Ying and Cabot, Andreu},
  issn         = {2211-2855},
  journal      = {Nano Energy},
  number       = {11},
  publisher    = {Elsevier},
  title        = {{Phosphorous incorporation in Pd2Sn alloys for electrocatalytic ethanol oxidation}},
  doi          = {10.1016/j.nanoen.2020.105116},
  volume       = {77},
  year         = {2020},
}