Co, N co-doped porous carbons as high-performance oxygen reduction electrocatalysts

ZHANG Jing; SONG Liang-hao; ZHAO Chen-fei; YIN Xiu-ping; ZHAO Yu-feng

doi:10.1016/S1872-5805(21)60016-1

Volume 36 Issue 1

Feb. 2021

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Article Navigation > New Carbon Mater. > 2021 > 36(1): 209-218

ZHANG Jing, SONG Liang-hao, ZHAO Chen-fei, YIN Xiu-ping, ZHAO Yu-feng. Co, N co-doped porous carbons as high-performance oxygen reduction electrocatalysts. New Carbon Mater., 2021, 36(1): 209-218. doi: 10.1016/S1872-5805(21)60016-1

Citation:

ZHANG Jing, SONG Liang-hao, ZHAO Chen-fei, YIN Xiu-ping, ZHAO Yu-feng. Co, N co-doped porous carbons as high-performance oxygen reduction electrocatalysts. New Carbon Mater., 2021, 36(1): 209-218. doi: 10.1016/S1872-5805(21)60016-1

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Co, N co-doped porous carbons as high-performance oxygen reduction electrocatalysts

doi: 10.1016/S1872-5805(21)60016-1

College of Sciences & Institute for Sustainable Energy, Shanghai University, Shanghai 200444, China

Funds: We thank the financial supports from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (51774251), Hebei Natural Science Foundation for Distinguished Young Scholars (B2017203313), Shanghai Science and Technology Commission’s “2020 Science and Technology Innovation Action Plan” (20511104003), Hundred Excellent Innovative Talents Support Program in Hebei Province (SLRC2017057), Talent Engineering Training Funds of Hebei Province (A201802001), and the Opening Project of the State Key Laboratory of Advanced Chemical Power Sources (SKL-ACPS-C-11)

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Author Bio:
ZHANG Jing, Ph. D candidate. E-mail: jingzhang@shu.edu.cn
Corresponding author: ZHAO Yu-feng, Professor. E-mail: yufengzhao@shu.edu.cn
Received Date: 2021-01-16
Rev Recd Date: 2021-01-22
Publish Date: 2021-02-01

Abstract

Abstract

Although the Co and N co-doped carbon catalyst (Co-NC) has attracted much attention because of its low cost and the natural abundance of the dopants, it has a low oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) activity and a high selectivity for the two-electron (2e^-) reduction of oxygen to H₂O₂, which affects its use in fuel cells. Co-NC catalysts were prepared by the pyrolysis of a mixture of cobalt chloride and chitosan pretreated with zinc chloride at 650, 750 and 850 ^oC, followed by washing with nitric acid and annealing at 900 ^oC. The results indicate that zinc chloride helps the complexing of chitosan with Co²⁺, which is also a chemical activator that generates pores, and annealing caused the evaporation of the spherical Zn metal nanoparticles formed by the carbothermal reduction of Zn ions, leading to a unique porous structure of the catalysts with spherical pores filled with spherical carbon nanoparticles formed by the growth of nitrogen-doped carbon as a result of the Co catalyst. The degree of graphitization is also improved by the Co catalyst. The Co-NC catalyst obtained at a pyrolysis temperature of 750 ^oC shows the same four-electron (4e^-) reduction of oxygen as a commercial Pt/C catalyst, and a significantly higher ORR catalytic activity, longer-term stability and better methanol tolerance than a commercial Pt/C catalyst. These are due to its large specific surface area, high contents of pyridinic nitrogen and graphitic nitrogen that disperse the Co species and its excellent electrical conductivity.
- Oxygen reduction reaction,
- ORR catalyst,
- Porous carbon,
- Carbon spheres,
- N-doped

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References(34)

References

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