A N-, Fe- and Co-tridoped carbon nanotube/nanoporous carbon nanocomposite with synergistically enhanced activity for oxygen reduction in acidic media

Abstract

Electrocatalysts for the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) in acidic media are crucial in proton-exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cells and other electrochemical devices. Achieving ideal ORR activity and durability in acidic media remains a challenge. Here, we developed a new NFeCo-CNT/NC nanocomposite electrocatalyst from the highly available and recyclable plant biomass Typha orientalis using a readily scalable approach. The electrocatalyst exhibits excellent ORR activity, superior stability and tolerance to methanol poisoning effects in acidic media. The value of the onset potential and half-peak potential of the typical product is only 70 mV and 65 mV less than that of Pt/C, respectively. The NFeCo-CNT and NFeCo-NC in the nanocomposite have synergistically enhanced ORR activities. The catalyst may have practical applications in fuel cells. One of the important accomplishments of this work is the discovery that trace Fe 3+ and Co 2+ can synergistically catalyze the growth of the carbon nanotubes when melamine serves as the CNT precursor. Fig. 6 (a) The effect of Fe and Co contents on the ORR activity; (b) the effect of annealing temperature on the ORR activity; (c) the effect of annealing time on the ORR activity; (f) the effect of amount of melamine on the ORR activity.This journal is

Bulk Production of Non‐Precious Metal Catalysts with High Surface Area and Excellent Activity in the Oxygen Reduction Reaction

“…These results indicate that nitrogen, iron co‐doped nano‐porous carbon material with very high surface area was prepared. Generally, it is accepted that high surface area is very important for electrocatalyst, because it can bring more and more active sites explored, which can accelerate the reaction kinetics . In addition, the carbon nanomaterials with high surface area may have extensive applications in many fields such as supercapacitors, sewage treatment, gas uptake, sensors and so on.…”

“…Especially, pyridinic nitrogen has the great contribution for the electrochemical activity, and graphitic nitrogen is very important for the reduction current . Thirdly, the co‐doping of N and small amount Fe in the material can synergistically enhance ORR activities, because they can form the active sites FeNx, which is very important for the ORR activity …”

“…We have developed the interconnected N‐doped carbon framework with Co/Co 3 O 4 nanoparticles and N‐doped TiO 2 nanorods/graphene nanocomposite and found that improving the conductivity of the nanocomposite and doping N element in the carbon materials are contribute to the enhancement of ORR activity and stability in alkaline media . We have also prepared the N, Fe, and Co tri‐doped carbon nanotube/nanoporous carbon and the CMK3/Graphene‐N−Co nanocomposite containing graphene, CMK3, nitrogen, and trace cobalt, and found that ORR activity was obviously promoted because of the N‐, Fe‐ and (or) Co‐doping . Very recently, we reported N, P and Fe tri‐doped nanoporous carbon ORR electrocatalysts derived from plant biomass corn silk and the bulk production of N, Fe‐doped carbon nanospheres from the poly(m‐phenylenediamine) as precursor…”

Environmental Catalysis: Present and Future

“…Particularly, the conversion of biomass into active carbon materials has been used to obtain electrocatalysts from more economical, abundant and renewable feedstocks. [100,101] Such precursors can be classified in two groups: (1) living organisms such as microalgae, [102] plant Typha orientalis, [103] peat moss [104] and (2) bioresources such as cellulose, [105] pomelo peel, [106] catte-bone, [107] eggs, [108] among others. The resulting carbon- Figure 8.…”

“…Particularly, the conversion of biomass into active carbon materials has been used to obtain electrocatalysts from more economical, abundant and renewable feedstocks ,. Such precursors can be classified in two groups: (1) living organisms such as microalgae, plant Typha orientalis, peat moss and (2) bioresources such as cellulose, pomelo peel, catte‐bone, eggs, among others. The resulting carbon‐based materials have been successfully applied to a myriad of electrocatalytic reactions such as hydrogen evolution reaction (HER), oxygen evolution reaction (OER) and electrocatalytic reduction of CO 2 .…”