Metallocorroles as Nonprecious‐Metal Catalysts for Oxygen Reduction

The future of affordable fuel cells strongly relies on the design of earth‐abundant (non‐platinum) catalysts for the electrochemical oxygen reduction reaction (ORR). However, the bottleneck in the overall process occurs therein. We have examined herein trivalent Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, and Cu complexes of β‐pyrrole‐brominated corrole as ORR catalysts. The adsorption of these complexes on a high‐surface‐area carbon powder (BP2000) created a unique composite material, used for electrochemical measurements in acidic aqueous solutions. These experiments disclosed a clear dependence of the catalytic activity on the metal center of the complexes, in the order of Co>Fe>Ni>Mn>Cu. The best catalytic performance was obtained for the Co^III corrole, whose onset potential was as positive as 0.81 V versus the reversible hydrogen electrode (RHE). Insight into the properties of these systems was gained by spectroscopic and computational characterization of the reduced and oxidized forms of the metallocorroles.     

应用于氧还原电极的新型Co-PAn-C复合催化材料

借鉴美国Los Alamos国家实验室报告的应用于燃料电池氧电极的新型Co-PPy-C (PPy, polypyrrole)复合物催化材料, 提出Co-PAn-C (PAn, polyaniline)复合材料可能对氧的电化学还原也具有催化活性, 并首次制备出Co-PAn-C复合催化材料. 发现Co-PAn-C对氧还原有显著的催化效果, 碱性介质中氧气气氛下, 电极电位为－0.2 V vs. Hg/HgO时电流密度达到128 mA•cm^－2, 性能也比较稳定. 初步研究了Co-PAn-C对ORR (oxygen reduction reaction)的催化机理, 可能是在结构中形成了Co-N活性位置, 影响了氧和反应中间产物在电极上的吸附和脱附过程.     

Efficient Oxygen Reduction Reaction (ORR) Catalysts Based on Single Iron Atoms Dispersed on a Hierarchically Structured Porous Carbon Framework

Single Fe atoms dispersed on hierarchically structured porous carbon (SA‐Fe‐HPC) frameworks are prepared by pyrolysis of unsubstituted phthalocyanine/iron phthalocyanine complexes confined within micropores of the porous carbon support. The single‐atom Fe catalysts have a well‐defined atomic dispersion of Fe atoms coordinated by N ligands on the 3D hierarchically porous carbon support. These SA‐Fe‐HPC catalysts are comparable to the commercial Pt/C electrode even in acidic electrolytes for oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) in terms of the ORR activity (E_1/2=0.81 V), but have better long‐term electrochemical stability (7 mV negative shift after 3000 potential cycles) and fuel selectivity. In alkaline media, the SA‐Fe‐HPC catalysts outperform the commercial Pt/C electrode in ORR activity (E_1/2=0.89 V), fuel selectivity, and long‐term stability (1 mV negative shift after 3000 potential cycles). Thus, these nSA‐Fe‐HPCs are promising non‐platinum‐group metal ORR catalysts for fuel‐cell technologies.     

Single‐Shell Carbon‐Encapsulated Iron Nanoparticles: Synthesis and High Electrocatalytic Activity for Hydrogen Evolution Reaction

Efficient hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) through effective and inexpensive electrocatalysts is a valuable approach for clean and renewable energy systems. Here, single‐shell carbon‐encapsulated iron nanoparticles (SCEINs) decorated on single‐walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) are introduced as a novel highly active and durable non‐noble‐metal catalyst for the HER. This catalyst exhibits catalytic properties superior to previously studied nonprecious materials and comparable to those of platinum. The SCEIN/SWNT is synthesized by a novel fast and low‐cost aerosol chemical vapor deposition method in a one‐step synthesis. In SCEINs the single carbon layer does not prevent desired access of the reactants to the vicinity of the iron nanoparticles but protects the active metallic core from oxidation. This finding opens new avenues for utilizing active transition metals such as iron in a wide range of applications.     

Designing a Highly Active Metal‐Free Oxygen Reduction Catalyst in Membrane Electrode Assemblies for Alkaline Fuel Cells: Effects of Pore Size and Doping‐Site Position

To promote the oxygen reduction reaction of metal‐free catalysts, the introduction of porous structure is considered as a desirable approach because the structure can enhance mass transport and host many catalytic active sites. However, most of the previous studies reported only half‐cell characterization; therefore, studies on membrane electrode assembly (MEA) are still insufficient. Furthermore, the effect of doping‐site position in the structure has not been investigated. Here, we report the synthesis of highly active metal‐free catalysts in MEAs by controlling pore size and doping‐site position. Both influence the accessibility of reactants to doping sites, which affects utilization of doping sites and mass‐transport properties. Finally, an N,P‐codoped ordered mesoporous carbon with a large pore size and precisely controlled doping‐site position showed a remarkable on‐set potential and produced 70 % of the maximum power density obtained using Pt/C.     

铂基燃料电池氧还原反应催化剂研究进展

质子交换膜燃料电池中,空气电极上进行的氧还原反应动力学过程迟缓,是贵金属铂催化剂的主要消耗反应,但铂储量有限、成本过高、稳定性差等缺点严重制约了质子交换膜燃料电池大规模商业化应用. 开发低载量、高催化活性、高稳定铂催化剂是降低燃料电池成本的重要途径之一. 本文以作者课题组近年工作为基础,综述了铂基催化剂的稳定性研究,以及以铂合金为代表的低铂氧还原反应催化剂的最新研究进展. 文章重点讨论了催化剂的结构设计与制备,并对未来氧还原催化剂的发展提出了展望     

Bifunctional Catalysts for Reversible Oxygen Evolution Reaction and Oxygen Reduction Reaction

Metal-air batteries (MABs) and reversible fuel cells (RFCs) rely on the bifunctional oxygen catalysts for oxygen evolution reaction (OER) and oxygen reduction reaction (ORR). Finding efficient bifunctional oxygen catalysts is the ultimate goal and it has attracted a great deal of attention. The dilemma is that a good ORR catalyst is not necessarily efficient for OER, and vice versa. Thus, the development of a new type of bifunctional oxygen catalysts should ensure that the catalysts exhibit high activity for both OER and ORR. Composites with multicomponents for active centers supported on highly conductive matrices could be able to meet the challenges and offering new opportunities. In this Review, the evolution of bifunctional catalysts is summarized and discussed aiming to deliver high-performance bifunctional catalysts with low overpotentials.     

包覆型非贵金属氧还原催化剂的研究进展

燃料电池中广泛使用的铂基催化剂价格昂贵、储量低、容易失活,因此亟待开发廉价、高效非铂催化剂. 过渡金属(Fe、Co、Ni等)/杂原子共掺杂催化剂、杂原子掺杂（N、P、S、F等）碳材料以及碳材料包覆过渡金属复合物是目前发现的几类性能优异的非贵金属氧还原催化剂. 其中碳材料包覆过渡金属催化剂作为一类新型的高性能催化剂,对其研究还有待深入. 本文主要阐述了国内外在包覆型非贵金属氧还原催化剂方面的研究进展,从合成,性能,机理等方面对该类催化剂进行了总结,力求助益于该类催化剂的发展.     

Hollow PtFe Alloy Nanoparticles Derived from Pt-Fe3O4 Dimers through a Silica-Protection Reduction Strategy as Efficient Oxygen Reduction Electrocatalysts

The development of efficient and stable electrocatalysts for the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) is critical for the large-scale production of fuel cells. Platinum (Pt) nanoparticle catalysts show excellent performance for ORR, though the high cost of Pt is a limiting factor that directly impacts fuel cell production costs. Alloying Pt with other transition metals is an effective strategy to reduce Pt utilization whilst maintaining good ORR performance. In this work, novel hollow PtFe alloy catalysts were successfully synthesized by high-temperature pyrolysis of SiO₂-coated Pt-Fe₃O₄ nanoparticle dimers supported on carbon at 900 °C, followed by SiO₂ shell removal and partial dealloying of the PtFe nanoparticles formed using HF. The obtained hollow PtFe nanoparticle catalysts (denoted herein as PtFe-900) showed a 2.3-fold enhancement in ORR mass activity compared to PtFe nanoparticles synthesized without SiO₂ protection, and a remarkable 7.8-fold enhancement relative to a commercial Pt/C catalyst. Further, after 10 000 potential cycles, the ORR mass activity of PtFe-900 remained very high (90.9 % of the initial mass activity). The outstanding ORR performance of PtFe-900 can be attributed to the modification of Pt lattice and electronic structure by alloying with Fe at high temperature under the protection of the SiO₂ coating. This work guides the development of improved, highly dispersed Pt-based alloy nanoparticle catalysts for ORR and fuel cell applications.     

负载酞菁铁的氮掺杂中空碳球的电催化氧还原性能（英文）

开发低成本、高性能的氧还原反应（ORR）催化剂是当前的研究热点.虽然酞菁铁（FePc）在几十年前就被证明能高效地电催化氧还原反应,但由于其电子传导性和稳定性较差,无法取代商用的Pt/C催化剂.氮掺杂碳材料不仅化学性质稳定、电子传导性好,还有一定的氧还原催化活性.本文首先制备了聚苯乙烯@聚多巴胺球前驱体,经过高温碳化后制得了氮掺杂中空碳球,进而负载酞菁铁后制备了负载酞菁铁的氮掺杂中空碳球复合材料（FePc-NHCS）.通过调整煅烧温度和酞菁铁的负载量,可进一步调控FePc-NHCS的多孔结构、石墨化程度、氮掺杂的种类与含量及酞菁铁的负载状态.优化后的FePc-NHCS在碱性电解质中显示出优异的ORR催化活性,其半波电位和稳定性均高于商用Pt/C催化剂.研究结果表明,掺杂与复合是增强单项催化组分活性的有效途径.此外,通过调控催化剂的结构和组分也能有效地优化催化剂的氧化还原性能.     

碱性介质中Fe/N/C催化剂的氧气还原反应催化性能研究

以氧化石墨烯(GO)为碳载体, K₃Fe(CN)₆同时作为N源和Fe源, 经热处理后构建了新型Fe/N/C结构的氧气还原催化剂. 在热处理过程中, 氧化石墨烯上的官能团分解脱离形成活性中心, Fe元素和N元素的同时掺杂是通过氧化石墨烯与K₃Fe(CN)₆之间的相互作用而实现的. 通过傅立叶变换红外光谱(FTIR)和X射线光电子能谱(XPS)表征证明了这种非贵金属催化剂中N元素和Fe元素的成功掺杂, 在催化剂中N元素主要是以吡啶式氮、吡咯式氮和石墨式氮的形式存在, Fe(Ⅱ)和Fe(Ⅲ)则与其中的吡啶式氮配位形成Fe-N_x结构. 采用循环伏安法(CV)和旋转圆盘电极(RDE)技术, 研究其在碱性介质中对氧气还原反应(ORR)的电催化性能. 实验结果显示: Fe/N/C催化剂具有良好的ORR电催化活性, 在碱性溶液中的起始电位为-0.15 V, 同时有着良好的稳定性和抗甲醇性能.     

Photoassisted Oxygen Reduction Reaction in H2–O2 Fuel Cells

The oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) is a key step in H₂–O₂ fuel cells, which, however, suffers from slow kinetics even for state‐of‐the‐art catalysts. In this work, by making use of photocatalysis, the ORR was significantly accelerated with a polymer semiconductor (polyterthiophene). The onset potential underwent a positive shift from 0.66 to 1.34 V, and the current was enhanced by a factor of 44 at 0.6 V. The improvement was further confirmed in a proof‐of‐concept light‐driven H₂–O₂ fuel cell, in which the open circuit voltage (V_oc) increased from 0.64 to 1.18 V, and the short circuit current (J_sc) was doubled. This novel tandem structure combining a polymer solar cell and a fuel cell enables the simultaneous utilization of photo‐ and electrochemical energy, showing promising potential for applications in energy conversion and storage.     

硫掺杂有序介孔碳材料作为燃料电池氧还原催化剂

以百里香酚蓝为前驱物,采用硬模版法一步合成硫掺杂的有序介孔碳材料(S-OMC)。在900℃下热解负载百里香酚蓝的介孔二氧化硅SBA-15,获得了具有石墨孔壁结构的有序介孔碳材料(S-OMC-900)。硫元素均匀有效地分布在碳材料介孔孔壁上,并对催化氧还原反应(ORR)起到了关键性作用。S掺杂的有序介孔碳材料的比表面积为1 230 m~2·g~(-1),孔径4.6 nm,有序的孔道结构保证了氧还原反应的物料运输,增大了催化活性。测试结果表明,所制备的S-OMC-900具有良好的催化活性和稳定性。与商业Pt/C比较,S-OMC-900具有更好的甲醇耐受性。     

Isolated Single Iron Atoms Anchored on N-Doped Porous Carbon as an Efficient Electrocatalyst for the Oxygen Reduction Reaction

The development of low-cost, efficient, and stable electrocatalysts for the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) is desirable but remains a great challenge. Herein, we made a highly reactive and stable isolated single-atom Fe/N-doped porous carbon (ISA Fe/CN) catalyst with Fe loading up to 2.16 wt %. The catalyst showed excellent ORR performance with a half-wave potential (E_1/2) of 0.900 V, which outperformed commercial Pt/C and most non-precious-metal catalysts reported to date. Besides exceptionally high kinetic current density (J_k) of 37.83 mV cm⁻² at 0.85 V, it also had a good methanol tolerance and outstanding stability. Experiments demonstrated that maintaining the Fe as isolated atoms and incorporating nitrogen was essential to deliver the high performance. First principle calculations further attributed the high reactivity to the high efficiency of the single Fe atoms in transporting electrons to the adsorbed OH species.     

氧还原碳基非贵金属电催化剂研究进展

质子交换膜燃料电池是一种直接将化学能转化为电能的能量转换装置,具有环境友好、能量密度高、转化效率高等优点,能够应用于便携能源及燃料电池电动车领域.但燃料电池阴极氧还原需要大量的铂基催化剂,铂价格昂贵、储量有限、易中毒的缺点限制了它的实际应用.因此,开发低成本、高活性、高稳定性的阴极非贵金属催化剂将能够显著推动质子交换膜燃料电池的大规模商业化应用.其中碳基非贵金属催化剂作为最有可能替代铂的氧还原催化剂,引起了广泛的研究.基于此,本文首先简单介绍了氧还原的机理;其次将碳基非贵金属催化剂分为过渡金属氮碳催化剂和非金属掺杂碳催化剂,对它们在材料制备和活性中心的研究进行了总结和讨论;最后,报道了碳基非贵金属催化剂在质子交换膜燃料电池单电池中的应用进展.     

过渡金属氧化物氧还原催化剂的研究进展

过渡金属氧化物（TMOs）是阴离子交换膜燃料电池最有前途的氧还原催化剂之一. 目前,TMOs的氧还原活性同铂基催化剂相比仍然有一定的差距,研究如何合成具有高催化活性的TMOs催化剂非常重要. 导电性和本征活性一直被认为是开发高性能TMOs催化剂的两个关键因素,本文着重总结与评述了近年来有关TMOs氧还原催化剂在导电性和本征活性方面的研究进展,尝试提出了未来提高TMOs氧还原催化活性的努力方向.     

低温燃料电池氧电极催化剂

氧电极催化剂及缓慢的阴极氧还原动力学是制约低温燃料电池商业化的关键瓶颈因素之一。为此,国内外研究者近年来从提高低温燃料电池氧电极催化剂的催化活性和稳定性、降低催化剂的成本、发展非贵金属氧还原催化剂等方面开展了大量的研究工作,有力地促进了低温燃料电池的发展进程。本文在简要介绍低温燃料电池氧电极反应机理的基础上,从催化剂载体、贵金属及其合金催化剂、金属大环化合物及M-N/C类催化剂和过渡金属硫族化合物类催化剂等方面详细综述了低温燃料电池氧电极催化剂近年来的主要研究进展,并指出了各类催化剂目前尚待解决的问题和发展方向。