A flexible, dictyophora-like sponge of porous N-doped carbon microtubes demonstrates excellent electrocatalytic activities for both the oxygen reduction reaction and oxygen evolution reaction.
Highly efficient noble-metal-free
electrocatalysts for oxygen reduction
reaction (ORR) are essential to reduce the costs of fuel cells and
metal–air batteries. Herein, a single-atom Ce–N–C
catalyst, constructed of atomically dispersed Ce anchored on N-doped
porous carbon nanowires, is proposed to boost the ORR. This catalyst
has a high Ce content of 8.55 wt % and a high activity with ORR half-wave
potentials of 0.88 V in alkaline media and 0.75 V in acidic electrolytes,
which are comparable to widely studied Fe–N–C catalysts.
A Zn–air battery based on this material shows excellent performance
and durability. Density functional theory calculations reveal that
atomically dispersed Ce with adsorbed hydroxyl species (OH) can significantly
reduce the energy barrier of the rate-determining step resulting in
an improved ORR activity.
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