Nitrogen-Doped Porous Carbon-Supported PtCo Nanoparticle Electrocatalyst for Oxygen Reduction Reaction Prepared by a Dual-Template Method

Abstract

A strategy for preparing nitrogen-doped porous carbon (NPC-Co) using a dual-template method is reported in this study. The catalyst (PtCo/NPC-Co) with high catalytic performance for the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) was developed after adding PtCo metal nanoparticles (NPs). Polydopamine can complex metals, encapsulate templates, and reduce metals. Therefore, polydopamine was selected as the carbon and nitrogen source. Then, ZnO and Co NPs were used as a double template to obtain a carrier (NPC-Co) with a high mesoporous ratio and high N content. The PtCo alloy NPs are homogeneously anchored on the support by highly dispersed N atoms originating from NPC-Co. PtCo/NPC-Co exhibited excellent catalytic performance and durability for oxygen reduction. The mass activity of PtCo/NPC-Co is 4.8 times that of commercial Pt/C catalysts. Furthermore, PtCo/NPC-Co showed excellent durability. The mass activity of PtCo/NPC-Co decreased by only 23% compared with that of Pt/C (49%) after 20,000 cycles. The interaction effect between NPC-Co and PtCo NPs enhanced the overall electrocatalytic performance. Additionally, the ORR mechanism is discussed in this study to advance our understanding of the electrocatalytic structure–activity relationship.

Highly dispersed ultrafine PtCo alloy nanoparticles on unique composite carbon supports for proton exchange membrane fuel cells

“…17 However, these performance issues may be related to the fact that graphitized carbon tends to have fewer defect sites that bind to the catalyst material, resulting in poor dispersion and diminished performance. 23 Furthermore, graphitized carbon supports have lower Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) surface areas. As shown in Fig.…”

Heteroatom-Doped Graphene-Supported Pt Nanoparticles as Electrocatalysts for Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells

“…4 Another concern with using Pt as a catalyst is the agglomeration of PtNPs, which leads to a reduction of electrocatalytic activity 5 and corrosion of the carbon support, 6 both of which can be minimized through the optimization of the support material. 7 The support onto which the PtNPs are attached influences the overall electrocatalytic activity of the electrocatalyst. The metal−support interaction has an influence on the metal's electronic properties and therefore the metal's charge-transfer properties.…”

“…This dependence on size confirms the Pt particle size effect on the ORR . Another concern with using Pt as a catalyst is the agglomeration of PtNPs, which leads to a reduction of electrocatalytic activity and corrosion of the carbon support, both of which can be minimized through the optimization of the support material …”

Nitrogen-intercalated Pd metallene nanoribbons with optimized electronic structure for oxygen reduction catalysis

“…11 Another is the strain effect: nonmetallic atomic doping can alter the interatomic distance on the catalyst surface to optimize oxygen reduction catalysis. 12,13 It has been reported that the lone electron pair in nitrogen (N) can facilitate O-O bond cleavage and enhance electrocatalytic activity. 14 Apart from electronic structure modulation, another typical method of elevating catalytic activity is the adjustment of the electrocatalyst morphological structure to maximize the number of active sites.…”