Supramolecular gel-assisted synthesis of double shelled Co@CoO@N–C/C nanoparticles with synergistic electrocatalytic activity for the oxygen reduction reaction

Abstract

Investigating active, stable, and low-cost materials for the oxygen reduction reaction is one of the key challenges in fuel-cell research. In this work, we describe the formation of N-doped carbon shell coated Co@CoO nanoparticles supported on Vulcan XC-72 carbon materials (Co@CoO@N-C/C) based on a simple supramolecular gel-assisted method. The double-shelled Co@CoO@N-C/C core-shell nanoparticles exhibit superior electrocatalytic activities for the oxygen reduction reaction compared to N-doped carbon and cobalt oxides, demonstrating the synergistic effect of the hybrid nanomaterials. Notably, the Co@CoO@N-C/C nanoparticles give rise to a comparable four-electron selectivity, long-term stability, and high methanol tolerance; all show a multi-fold improvement over the commercial Pt/C catalyst. The progress is of great importance in exploring advanced non-precious metal-based electrocatalysts for fuel cell applications.

Nitrogen‐Doped Hierarchical Porous Carbons Derived from Sodium Alginate as Efficient Oxygen Reduction Reaction Electrocatalysts

“…However, NC‐0.5‐900 retained a virtually invariant current response after the addition of methanol. Consistent with the CV curves presented in Figure b, NC‐0.5‐900 exhibited an almost unchanged CV curve, whereas Pt/C displayed a clear methanol oxidation peak after the addition of 1 m methanol into the 0.1 m KOH aqueous medium, which indicates that NC‐0.5‐900 possessed a much better catalytic selectivity toward the ORR against methanol oxidation than Pt/C. Additionally, the durability of NC‐0.5‐900 and Pt/C was also assessed by using chronoamperometry in O 2 ‐saturated 0.1 m KOH at 0.7 V. After 20 000 s test, NC‐0.5‐900 displayed a better long‐term stability with almost 81 % relative current retention than Pt/C with only 62 % retention (Figure c).…”

Pyrolysis-induced synthesis of iron and nitrogen-containing carbon nanolayers modified graphdiyne nanostructure as a promising core-shell electrocatalyst for oxygen reduction reaction

“…Lower Tafel slope values correspond to a large decrease in overpotential with the current density, which facilitates the enhancement of the ORR electrocatalytic activity. It is significant that the similarity in the Tafel slope values between Fe-PANI@GD-900 and commercial Pt/C catalyst implies the same ORR catalysis mechanism: the protonation of O 2À on the active sites of catalyst is the main rate-determining step [40].…”

Strengthened Synergistic Effect of Metallic MxPy (M = Co, Ni, and Cu) and Carbon Layer via Peapod‐Like Architecture for Both Hydrogen and Oxygen Evolution Reactions

“…However, the catalytic effect of materials with the single component or configuration is usually restricted to their physic, chemical, and electronic properties. Carbon‐based materials have attracted extensive attention as their tunable molecular structures, good electron conductivity, strong acid‐alkali resistance, dimensional stability, and abundance . Importantly, there was usually a strengthened synergistic effect (SSE) between different components or structures.…”