A Prussian blue route to nitrogen-doped graphene aerogels as efficient electrocatalysts for oxygen reduction with enhanced active site accessibility

Developing high-performance nonpredous-metal electrocatalysts for the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) is crudal for a variety of renewable energy conversion and storage systems.Toward that end,rational catalyst design principles that lead to highly active catalytic centers and enhanced active site accessibility are undoubtedly of paramount importance.Here,we used Prussian blue nanoparticles to anchor Fe/Fe3C species to nitrogen-doped reduced graphene oxide aerogels as ORR catalysts.The strong interaction between nanosized Fe3C and the graphitic carbon shell led to synergistic effects in the ORR,and the protection of the carbon shell guaranteed stability of the catalyst.As a result,the aerogel electrocatalyst displayed outstanding activity in the ORR on par with the state-of-the-art Pt/C catalyst at the same mass loading in alkaline media,good performance in acidic media,and excellent stability and crossover tolerance that rivaled that of the best nonprecious-metal ORR electrocatalysts reported to date.     

Effect of Zn atom in Fe-N-C catalysts for electro-catalytic reactions: theoretical considerations

Due to the high specific surface area,abundant nitrogen and micropores,ZIF-8 is a commonly used precursor for preparing high performance Fe-N-C catalysts.However,the Zn element is inevitably remained in the prepared Fe-N-C catalyst.Whether the residual Zn element affects the catalytic activity and active site center of the Fe-N-C catalyst caused widespread curiosity,but has not been studied yet.Herein,we built several Fe,Zn,and N co-doped graphene models to investigate the effect of Zn atoms on the electrocatalytic performance of Fe-N-C catalysts by using density functional theory method.The calculation results show that all the calculated Fe-Zn-N_x structures are thermodynamically stable due to the negative formation energies and relative stabilities.The active sites around Fe and Zn atoms in the structure of Fe-Zn-N₆(III)show the lowest oxygen reduction reaction(ORR)and oxygen evolution reaction(OER)overpotentials of 0.38 and 0.43 V,respectively.The bridge site of Fe-Zn in Fe-Zn-N₅ shows the lowest η^HER of?0.26 V.A few structures with a better activity than that of FeN₄ or ZnN₄ are attributed to the synergistic effects between Fe and Zn atoms.The calculated ORR reaction pathways on Fe-Zn-N6(III)show that H₂O is the final product and the ORR mechanism on the catalyst would be a four-electron process,and the existence of Zn element in the Fe-N-C catalysts plays a key role in reducing the ORR activation energy barrier.The results are helpful for the deep understand of high-performance Fe-N-C catalysts.     

Facile synthesis of fully ordered L10-FePt nanoparticles with controlled Pt-shell thicknesses for electrocatalysis

We report a simple one-step approach for the synthesis of ～4 nm uniform and fully L10-ordered face-centered tetragonal (fct) FePt nanopartides (NPs) embedded in ～60 nm MCM-41 (fct-FePt NPs@MCM-41).We controlled the Pt-shell thickness of the fct-FePt NPs by treating the fct-FePt NPs@MCM-41 with acetic acid (HOAc) or hydrochloric acid (HC1) under sonication,thereby etching the surface Fe atoms of the NPs.The fct-FePt NPs deposited onto the carbon support (fct-FePt NP/C) were prepared by mixing the fct-FePt NPs@MCM-41 with carbon and subsequently removing the MCM-41 using NaOH.We also developed a facile method to synthesize acid-treated fct-FePt NP/C by using a HF solution for simultaneous surface-Fe etching and MCM-41 removal.We studied the effects of both surface-Fe etching and Pt-shell thickness on the electrocatalytic properties of fct-FePt NPs for the methanol oxidation reaction (MOR).Compared with the non-treated fct-FePt NP/C catalyst,the HOAc-treated and HCl-treated catalysts exhibit up to 34％ larger electrochemically active surface areas (ECASAs);in addition,the HCl-treated fct-FePt NP (with ～1.0 nm Pt shell)/C catalyst exhibits the highest specific activity.The HF-treated fct-FePt NP/C exhibits an ECASA almost 2 times larger than those of the other acid-treated fct-FePt NP/C catalysts and shows the highest mass activity (1,435 mA.mg~,2.3 times higher than that of the commercial Pt/C catalyst) and stability among the catalysts tested.Our findings demonstrate that the surface-Fe etching for the generation of the Pt shell on fct-FePt NPs and the Pt-shell thickness can be factors for optimizing the electrocatalysis of the MOR.     

High-performance oxygen reduction and evolution carbon catalysis: From mechanistic studies to device integration

The development of high-performance and low-cost oxygen reduction and evolution catalysts that can be easily integrated into existing devices is crucial for the wide deployment of energy storage systems that utilize O2-H2O chemistries,such as regenerative fuel cells and metal-air batteries.Herein,we report an NH3-activated N-doped hierarchical carbon (NHC) catalyst synthesized via a scalable route,and demonstrate its device integration.The NHC catalyst exhibited good performance for both the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) and the oxygen evolution reaction (OER),as demonstrated by means of electrochemical studies and evaluation when integrated into the oxygen electrode of a regenerative fuel cell.The activities observed for both the ORR and the OER were comparable to those achieved by state-of-the-art Pt and Ir catalysts in alkaline environments.We have further identified the critical role of carbon defects as active sites for electrochemical activity through density functional theory calculations and high-resolution TEM visualization.This work highlights the potential of NHC to replace commercial precious metals in regenerative fuel cells and possibly metal-air batteries for cost-effective storage of intermittent renewable energy.     

Modulating reaction pathways of formic acid oxidation for optimized electrocatalytic performance of PtAu/CoNC

Formic acid oxidation(FAO)is a typical anode reaction in fuel cells that can be facilitated by modulating its direct and indirect reaction pathways.Herein,PtAu bimetallic nanoparticles loaded onto Co and N co-doping carbon nanoframes(CoNC NFs)were designed to improve the selectivity of the direct reaction pathway for efficient FAO.Based on these subtle nanomaterials,the influences of elemental composition and carbon-support materials on the two pathways of FAO were investigated in detail.The results of fuel cell tests verified that the appropriate amount of Au in PtAu/CoNC can promote a direct reaction pathway for FAO,which is crucial for enhancing the oxidation efficiency of formic acid.In particular,the obtained PtAu/CoNC with an optimal Pt/Au atomic ratio of 1:1(PtAu/CoNC-3)manifests the best catalytic performance among the analogous obtained Pt-based electrocatalysts.The FAO mass activity of the PtAu/CoNC-3 sample reached 0.88 A·mg_Pt^-1,which is 26.0 times higher than that of Pt/C.The results of first-principles calculation and CO stripping jointly demonstrate that the CO adsorption of PtAu/CoNC is considerably lower than that of Pt/CoNC and PtAu/C,which indicates that the synergistic effect of Pt,Au,and CoNC NFs is critical for the resistance of Pt to CO poisoning.This work is of great significance for a deeper understanding of the oxidation mechanism of formic acid and provides a feasible and promising strategy for enhancing the catalytic performance of the catalyst by improving the direct reaction pathway for FAO.     

Template-directed synthesis of nitrogen- and sulfur-codoped carbon nanowire aerogels with enhanced electrocatalytic performance for oxygen reduction

Heteroatom doping,precise composition control,and rational morphology design are efficient strategies for producing novel nanocatalysts for the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) in fuel cells.Herein,a cost-effective approach to synthesize nitrogen-and sulfur-codoped carbon nanowire aerogels using a hard templating method is proposed.The aerogels prepared using a combination of hydrothermal treatment and carbonization exhibit good catalytic activity for the ORR in alkaline solution.At the optimal annealing temperature and mass ratio between the nitrogen and sulfur precursors,the resultant aerogels show comparable electrocatalytic activity to that of a commercial Pt/C catalyst for the ORR.Importantly,the optimized catalyst shows much better long-term stability and satisfactory tolerance for the methanol crossover effect.These codoped aerogels are expected to have potential applications in fuel cells.     

Single copper sites dispersed on hierarchically porous carbon for improving oxygen reduction reaction towards zinc-air battery

The demand for high-performance non-precious-metal electrocatalysts to replace the noble metal-based catalysts for oxygen reduction reaction(ORR)is intensively increasing.Herein,single-atomic copper sites supported on N-doped three-dimensional hierarchically porous carbon catalyst(Cu₁/NC)was prepared by coordination pyrolysis strategy.Remarkably,the Cu₁/NC-900 catalyst not only exhibits excellent ORR performance with a half-wave potential of 0.894 V(vs.RHE)in alkaline media,outperforming those of commercial Pt/C(0.851 V)and Cu nanoparticles anchored on N-doped porous carbon(CuNPs/NC-900),but also demonstrates high stability and methanol tolerance.Moreover,the Cu₁/NC-900 based Zn-air battery exhibits higher power density,rechargeability and cyclic stability than the one based on Pt/C.Both experimental and theoretical investigations demonstrated that the excellent performance of the as-obtained Cu₁/NC-900 could be attributed to the synergistic effect between copper coordinated by three N atoms active sites and the neighbouring carbon defect,resulting in elevated Cu d-band centers of Cu atoms and facilitating intermediate desorption for ORR process.This study may lead towards the development of highly efficient non-noble metal catalysts for applications in electrochemical energy conversion.     

Robust enhanced hydrogen production at acidic conditions over molybdenum oxides-stabilized ultrafine palladium electrocatalysts

Electrochemical water splitting is quite seductive for eco-friendly hydrogen fuel energy production,however,the attainment of highly efficient,durable,and cheap catalysts for the hydrogen evolution reaction(HER)remains challenging.In this study,molybdenum oxides stabilized palladium nanoparticle catalysts(MoO_x-Pd)are in situ prepared on commercial carbon cloth(CC)by the facile two-step method of dip-coating and electrochemical reduction.As a self-supported Pd-based catalyst electrode,the MoO_x-Pd/CC presents a competitive Tafel slope of 45.75 mV·dec^-1,an ultralow overpotential of 25 mV,and extremely long cycling durability(one week)in 0.5M H₂S0₄electrolyte,superior to unmodified Pd catalysts and comparable to commercial Pt mesh electrode.On the one hand,the introduction of MoO_xcan inhibit the growth of Pd particles to obtain ultrafine Pd nanoparticles,thus exposing more available active sites.On the other hand,density functional theory(DFT)calculation revealed that MoO_xon the surface of Pd metal can regulate the electronic structure of Pd metal and enhance its intrinsic catalytic activity of HER.This work suggests that transitional metal nanoparticles stabilized by molybdenum oxides are hopeful approaches for obtaining fruitful hydrogen-producing electrocatalysts.     

A Co-N/C hollow-sphere electrocatalyst derived from a metanilic CoAl layered double hydroxide for the oxygen reduction reaction,and its active sites in various pH media

Transition-metal-coordinating nitrogen-doped carbon catalysts (M-N/C,M =Co,Fe,Mn,Ni,etc.) are considered one of the most promising nonprecious-metal electrocatalysts for the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR).However,they suffer from low ORR catalytic activity,and their active sites have not been fully identified.Herein,we report the synthesis of a porous Co-N/C hollow-sphere electrocatalyst by carbonization of metanilic anions between the layers of a Co-Al layered double hydroxide.The as-prepared Co-N/C catalyst exhibited excellent ORR catalytic activity with a high half-wave potential and a large diffusion-limited current in alkaline and neutral solutions.The performance of the catalyst was comparable to those of commercial Pt/C electrocatalysts.Through investigating the effects of mask ions (SCN-and F-) on the ORR activity of the Co-N/C catalyst,and comparing the ORR activity before and after the destruction of Co-Nx sites in different pH media,we concluded that the Co-Nx sites act directly as the ORR active sites in acidic and neutral solutions,but have a negligible effect on the ORR activity in alkaline conditions.     

N-doped graphene grown on silk cocoon-derived interconnected carbon fibers for oxygen reduction reaction and photocatalytic hydrogen production

Carbon-based metal-free catalysts are a promising substitute for the rare and expensive platinum (Pt) used in the oxygen reduction reaction.We herein report N-doped graphene (NG) that is exquisitely integrated into highly conductive frameworks,simultaneously providing more active sites and higher conductivity.The NG was in situ grown on carbon fibers derived from silk cocoon (SCCf) using a simple one-step thermal treatment.The resulting product (NG-SCCf),possessing a meso-/macroporous structure with three-dimensional (3D) interconnected networks,exhibits an onset potential that is only 0.1 V less negative than that of Pt/C and shows stability and methanol tolerance superior to those of Pt/C in alkaline media.Moreover,in the absence of Pt as co-catalyst,NG-SCCf shows a photocatalytic H2 production rate of 66.0 μmol·h 1·g-1,4.4-fold higher than that of SCCf.This outstanding activity is intimately related to the in situ grown NG,hierarchically porous structure,and 3D interconnected networks,which not only introduce more active sites but also enable smooth electron transfer,mass transport,and effective separation of electron-hole pairs.Considering the abundance of the green raw material in combination with easy and low-cost preparation,this work contributes to the development of advanced sustainable catalysts in energy storage/conversion fields,such as electro-and photocatalysis.     

Catalytic performance of acid-treated multi-walled carbon nanotube-supported platinum catalyst for PEM fuel cells

Effects of the surface functional groups of multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) as catalyst support for the durability of polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) were examined at high Pt loading conditions. The amount of oxygen functional groups on the MWCNTs surface was increased as the acid treatment time and temperature increased. We found that more functional groups in MWCNTs improved initial Pt dispersion but deteriorated durability due to the reduced carbon corrosion resistance. The experimental results also showed that despite the surface oxidation, Pt/MWCNT catalysts showed highly improved durability than Pt/C catalysts due to the graphitic nature of MWCNTs. Membrane electrode assembly (MEA) fabricated by 4 h acid treated MWCNTs at 25 °C showed 4 times better durability than commercial Pt/C based MEA at the reverse potential operation generated by fuel starvation conditions. We believe that MWCNTs can be effectively used for PEMFCs even at high loading due to their excellent anti-corrosion properties.     

质子交换膜燃料电池中Pt/C及Pt合金/C催化剂的衰退机制研究综述

成本和耐久性依然是制约质子交换膜燃料电池商业化发展的两大瓶颈。首先综述了质子交换膜燃料电池阴极Pt/C催化剂在实际工作条件下的降解情况,并给出了可能的降解机制。结果表明,Pt/C催化剂在实际工作条件下,尤其是在汽车应用中是不稳定的,通常无法用作燃料电池阴极催化剂。而Pt合金催化剂因具有优异的氧还原催化性能和相对较好的耐久性,被认为有望解决成本和耐久性这两大难题,因此在质子交换膜燃料电池中日益得到重视和应用。但如何改善合金催化剂的耐久性依然是一个棘手的问题,文章最后详细综述了PtxCoy合金催化剂可能的衰退机理,以及可在一定程度上提高Pt合金催化剂耐久性的Pt单层结构和Pt核壳结构,这对催化剂的合成和设计具有一定的指导意义。     

Synthesis and characterization of PtSn/carbon and Pt3Sn/carbon nanocomposites as methanol electrooxidation catalysts

Two Pt-Sn/vulcan carbon nanocomposites containing nanoclusters of PtSn (niggliite) and Pt3Sn highly dispersed on a carbon powder support have been prepared using Pt(SnPh2Cl)(PPh3)2(Ph) or [Pt3[mu-(PPh2)2CH2]3(mu 3-SnF3) (mu 3-CO)][PF6] as single-source precursors of metal alloy. PtP2 or Pt metal is also present as a secondary phase. Bimetallic Pt-Sn nanoclusters with an average diameter of 5-8 nm are formed at a total metal loading of ca. 15 wt%. Evaluation of both Pt-Sn/C nanocomposites as electrooxidation catalysts in a direct methanol fuel cell gives fuel cell performances comparable to that expected for Pt-Sn catalysts prepared by more conventional methods.     

N- and S-doped high surface area carbon derived from soya chunks as scalable and efficient electrocatalysts for oxygen reduction

Abstract

Highly stable, cost-effective electrocatalysts facilitating oxygen reduction are crucial for the commercialization of membrane-based fuel cell and battery technologies. Herein, we demonstrate that protein-rich soya chunks with a high content of N, S and P atoms are an excellent precursor for heteroatom-doped highly graphitized carbon materials. The materials are nanoporous, with a surface area exceeding 1000 m² g^?1, and they are tunable in doping quantities. These materials exhibit highly efficient catalytic performance toward oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) with an onset potential of ?0.045 V and a half-wave potential of ?0.211 V (versus a saturated calomel electrode) in a basic medium, which is comparable to commercial Pt catalysts and is better than other recently developed metal-free carbon-based catalysts. These exhibit complete methanol tolerance and a performance degradation of merely ～5% as compared to ～14% for a commercial Pt/C catalyst after continuous use for 3000 s at the highest reduction current. We found that the fraction of graphitic N increases at a higher graphitization temperature, leading to the near complete reduction of oxygen. It is believed that due to the easy availability of the precursor and the possibility of genetic engineering to homogeneously control the heteroatom distribution, the synthetic strategy is easily scalable, with further improvement in performance.     

Characterization of Pt-Cu binary catalysts for oxygen reduction for fuel cell applications

Nanostructured Pt-Cu/C alloy catalysts synthesized by a reduction procedure with different reducing agents are investigated to find the origin of the enhanced activity of the oxygen reduction reaction for fuel cell applications. Prepared catalysts are characterized by various techniques, such as energy dispersive X-ray spectrometry, X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and cyclic voltammetry. XRD analysis shows that all prepared catalysts exhibit face-centered cubic structures and have smaller lattice parameters than pure Pt catalyst. TEM images show that the particle size of the catalysts increases with the heat treatment temperature, and that different reducing agent causes different particle size and dispersion of the binary catalysts on XC-72R. Using the polyol method with CuSO₄ as the precursor, the Pt-Cu/C sample is found to have good dispersion and high Cu loading. The Pt-Cu/C sample has a slightly higher specific activity value than that of Pt/C. The catalytic activity can be enhanced greatly with hydrogen reduction at 300 °C. Higher reduction temperatures cause the catalytic particles to agglomerate and therefore decreased catalytic activity.     

Electrochemical characterization of Pt-Ru-Pd catalysts for methanol oxidation reaction in direct methanol fuel cells

PtRuPd nanoparticles on carbon black were prepared and characterized as electrocatalysts for methanol oxidation reaction in direct methanol fuel cells. Nano-sized Pd (2-4 nm) particles were deposited on Pt/C and PtRu/C (commercial products) by a simple chemical reduction process. The structural and physical information of the PtRuPd/C were confirmed by TEM and XRD, and their electrocatalytic activities were measured by cyclic voltammetry and linear sweep voltammetry. The catalysts containing Pd showed higher electrocatalytic activity for methanol oxidation reaction than the other catalysts. This might be attributed to an increase in the electrochemical surface area of Pt, which is caused by the addition of Pd; this results in increased catalyst utilization.     

恒压电沉积Pt-Fe合金催化剂及在PEMFC阴极的应用

利用循环伏安法探究Pt与Fe共沉积的还原电位, 并在此电位下在多孔碳布表面恒压电沉积制备Pt-Fe合金, 研究其作为质子交换膜燃料电池 (PEMFC)阴极催化剂的电催化活性。通过X射线衍射 (XRD)、扫描电子显微镜(SEM)及场发射扫描电子显微镜 (FESEM)、能量色散谱 (EDS)、循环伏安 (CV)、单电池极化、电化学交流阻抗谱 (EIS)等测试技术对所得催化剂进行物理及电化学性能表征。实验表明, 在0.075 V电位下可还原得到Pt-Fe合金, 其颗粒在碳布表面呈空心球状且分散均匀; 共沉积时间对Pt-Fe合金催化剂成分组成有显著的影响, 随着时间的增加, 合金中Pt与Fe原子比增加, Fe相对含量下降。Fe可与Pt形成稳定的合金催化剂, 显著提高铂对氧还原的催化活性。电沉积30 min制得的合金催化剂具有最佳的催化活性。     

添加Al对燃料电池阴极催化剂(Pt-Fe)/Pt合金微观组织及氧还原催化性能的影响

为提高燃料电池阴极催化剂(Pt-Fe)/Pt合金的氧还原催化活性和稳定性,在Pt-Fe合金体系中引入元素Al,熔炼得到中间合金(Pt-Fe)Al,再经过NaOH溶液定向腐蚀得到(Pt1-xFex)₃Al/Pt合金,用其作为燃料电池氧还原反应的催化剂,并对其结构、催化活性和稳定性进行了研究。结果表明,所制备的催化剂材料(Pt1-xFex)₃Al/Pt合金具有由几个原子层厚的纯Pt外壳和成分为(Pt1-xFex)₃Al的内核构成的双模孔隙且内部互通的包覆式结构。相比于传统燃料电池的氧还原反应催化剂Pt/C材料以及由Pt-Fe体系制备的Pt₄₆Fe₅₄/Pt合金,(Pt1-xFex)₃Al/Pt合金的比活性分别是Pt₄₆Fe₅₄/Pt合金、Pt/C比活性的 1.21倍和2.69倍,其质量活性分别是Pt₄₆Fe₅₄/Pt和Pt/C的1.17倍和5.3倍。在催化稳定性方面,(Pt1-xFex)₃Al/Pt的电化学活性面积在10 000圈伏安循环后衰减到89%,然后趋于稳定,且循环40 000圈后其仍保留80%的电化学活性面积。由此可见,所制备的催化剂材料(Pt1-xFex)₃Al/Pt合金具有较高的催化活性及催化稳定性。     

循环伏安电沉积制备Pt-Fe合金催化剂及其性能

为提高质子交换膜燃料电池(PEMFC)电催化剂的催化活性,并降低其成本,利用循环伏安法电沉积制备Pt-Fe合金催化剂,并以其作为PEMFC阴极。通过X射线衍射仪(XRD)、循环伏安法(CV)、能谱仪(EDS)、扫描电子显微镜(SEM)测试技术对催化剂样品进行性能表征。通过循环伏安线性扫描法确定Pt-Fe合金的沉积电位,并探究了电沉积过程中电解液温度、电位和扫描速率对催化剂样品形貌以及电催化性能的影响。结果表明:电解液温度主要对催化剂沉积量及分散性起作用,对形貌影响不大,扫描速率主要对晶体生长产生影响;电位扫描范围为-0.4~0.6 V、扫描速率为100 m V/s,电解液温度为50℃时,电沉积得到的Pt-Fe合金催化剂的颗粒在碳布表面呈空心球状且分散均匀,与其他沉积电位制得的样品相比较,合金中Pt/Fe原子比相对较高,其具有最大的电化学活性表面积,为64.30 m2/g,电催化活性最佳。