LAUSR

Abstract A novel catalyst design for electro-oxidation of ethanol is presented, which is featured with the existing state of the catalyst. Specifically, Ni 2+ ions were anchored in the interstitial site of a redox active support, layered manganese dioxide (MnO 2 ), in which the Ni 2+ ions can be oxidized in situ to their active state. The MnO 2 -supported Ni ions could behave as a “single-ion electrocatalyst” toward the ethanol oxidation reaction (EOR) between MnO 2 layers in an alkaline solution, leading to much higher utilization efficiency than those in a bulk counterpart. Namely, a mass activity of 4.30 kA g -Ni −1 was achieved with the isolated Ni ions, while that of α-Ni(OH) 2 thin film was 0.93 kA g -Ni −1 .