Amorphous Fe Nanoclusters Embedded inside Balloon-Like N-Doped Hollow Carbon for Efficient Electrocatalytic Oxygen Reduction

Rational designs of electrocatalytic active sites and architectures are of great importance to develop cost-efficient non-noble metal electrocatalysts towards efficient oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) for high-performance energy conversion and storage devices. In this work, active amorphous Fe-based nanoclusters (Fe NC) are elaborately embedded at the inner surface of balloon-like N-doped hollow carbon (Fe NC/C_h sphere) as an efficient ORR electrocatalyst with an ultrathin wall of about 10 nm. When evaluated for electrochemical performance, Fe NC/C_h sphere exhibits decent ORR activity with a diffusion-limited current density of ~5.0 mA/cm² and a half-wave potential of ~0.81 V in alkaline solution, which is comparable with commercial Pt/C and superior to Fe nanoparticles supported on carbon sheet (Fe NP/C sheet) counterpart. The electrochemical analyses combined with electronic structure characterizations reveal that robust Fe-N interactions in amorphous Fe nanoclusters are helpful for the adsorption of surface oxygen-relative species, and the strong support effect of N-doped hollow carbon is benefitial for accelerating the interfacial electron transfer, which jointly contributes to improve ORR kinetics for Fe NC/C_h sphere.     

Highly Dispersed Pt Nanoparticles Embedded in N-Doped Porous Carbon for Efficient Hydrogen Evolution

A novel and facile strategy is presented to synthesize highly dispersed Pt nanoparticles embedded in N-doped porous carbon (Pt@NPC) via carbonization of Zn-containing metal-organic frameworks and chemical replacement of Zn with Pt. The as-prepared Pt@NPC exhibits superior activity and durability towards hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) in comparison with commercial Pt/C catalyst. The excellent HER performance of Pt@NPC can be ascribed to the combined features of catalyst and support material, including high dispersion and ultrathin particle size of Pt, high surface area and nitrogen doping of carbon support, and the strong interaction between metal and support.     

高活性位点密度Fe-N共掺杂碳纳米片的制备及氧还原性能

从三聚氰胺和均苯四甲酸酐单体出发, 通过熔融盐法合成了三嗪结构聚酰亚胺纳米片, 借助类石墨相氮化碳(g-C₃N₄)与铁离子的配位作用, 经高温热处理形成了高效掺杂的Fe-N/C催化剂. 研究结果表明, 该催化剂为表面粗糙的纳米片结构, 比表面积高达1794 m²/g. 通过g-C₃N₄的引入和含量的调控, 催化剂中铁元素的掺杂量最高可达1.13%(摩尔分数), 为未引入g-C₃N₄的3.3倍, 其原因可归结于g-C₃N₄配位锚定了铁离子, 其较强的配位作用可以避免高温热处理时铁元素的迁移和聚集. 该催化剂在酸性条件下氧还原反应半波电位为0.79 V, 10000周加速测试后的半波电位衰减了30 mV, 表现出较好的氧还原活性.     

高分散钴氮共掺杂碳纳米纤维氧还原催化剂

过渡金属氮掺杂碳基催化剂已成为替代铂基氧还原反应(ORR)电催化剂的理想选择。本文通过静电纺丝技术制备了高比表面、高度分散的钴原子配位氮掺杂的碳纳米纤维催化剂(Co-N/C)。X射线衍射(XRD)和高分辨率透射电镜(HRTEM)结果证实Co元素高度分散于制备的Co-N/C催化剂中。X射线光电子能谱结果表明N元素主要以吡啶N和石墨N形式存在。该Co-N/C催化剂对ORR反应呈现出较高的电催化活性,其氧还原起始和半波电位分别为0.92 V和0.80 V(相对于标准氢电极),接近于商业化Pt/C催化剂的性能。以制备的Co-N/C催化剂作为阴极,25℃下锌空气燃料电池的开路电位1.54 V、最大功率密度达到了190 m V·cm~(-2)表明该催化剂具有良好的应用前景。     

Preparation of Nitrogen-Doped Carbon Catalyst to Oxygen Reduction Reaction and Influence of Protective Gas Flowing on Its Activity

A non-precious metal catalyst MnHMTA/C to oxygen reduction reaction was prepared by py-rolyzing a precursor from manganese chloride, hexamethylenetetramine and acetylene black in nitrogen gas atmosphere. The effect of heat treatment temperature and owing of nitro-gen gas were investigated. A catalyst with the highest activity can be obtained at 700 ℃. Mn(II) ion was changed to MnO in heat treatment, which improved the catalytic activity of the catalyst. Hexamethylenetetramine takes part in the formation of active site of the cata-lyst as its decomposed gases. The owing of protective gas takes the decomposed gases out of the tube furnace and brings negative effect on the catalytic activity of the MnHMTA/C catalyst.     

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.     

非贵金属氧还原催化剂的研究进展

开发可替代铂的非贵金属催化剂是今后燃料电池催化剂的重要发展方向,本文结合课题组研究的工作,总结了近年来非贵金属在氧还原催化方面的研究进展。并着重从材料合成和机理两个方面分析了目前在开发过渡金属氧化物、含过渡金属的氮掺杂碳材料和杂原子掺碳材料中存在的问题,提出了这些非金属催化剂今后的研究重点和努力方向。     

S掺杂Fe-N-C高活性氧还原反应催化剂

采用微波加热和高温碳化技术, 以ZIF-8为前驱体, 在甲醇-水双溶剂体系中先后引入Fe(NO₃)₃·9H₂O和KSCN, 制备了一系列S掺杂的Fe-N-C催化剂（Fe₃C/Fe-SAS@SNC）, 并通过X射线粉末衍射、 扫描透射电子显微镜和氮气吸附-脱附测试等表征手段进行分析. 结果表明, Fe和S两种元素的合理掺杂使Fe₃C/Fe-SAS@SNC催化剂具有明显的分级多孔结构, 比表面积达到673 m²/g, 在酸、 碱电解质中均表现出了优异的氧还原催化性能. 在0.1 mol/L KOH中, Fe₃C/Fe-SAS@SNC催化剂的半波电位达到0.880 V(vs. RHE), 高于商业Pt/C催化剂, 且表现出了比商业Pt/C更优的稳定性. 在0.5 mol/L H₂SO₄中, Fe₃C/Fe-SAS@SNC电催化氧还原的性能也与商业Pt/C催化剂相当.     

Self-Supported ZIF-Derived Co3O4 Nanoparticles-Decorated Porous N-Doped Carbon Fibers as Oxygen Reduction Catalyst

Oxygen reduction is a significant cathodic reaction in the state-of-art clean energy devices such as fuel cell and metal–oxygen battery. Here, ZIF-incorporated hybrid polymeric fibres have been fabricated by using a dual-phase electrospinning method. These are then transformed into Co₃O₄-nanoparticle-decorated porous N-doped carbon fibres (ZIF-Co₃O₄/NCF) through multi-step annealing treatment. The resultant ZIF-Co₃O₄/NCF is interweaved into a self-supported film and can be used as a bi-functional catalyst for catalysing oxygen reduction in both aqueous and non-aqueous electrolytes. Electrochemical tests demonstrate that ZIF-Co₃O₄/NCF displays a high catalytic activity for oxygen reduction with a half-wave potential (E_1/2) of 0.813 V (vs. RHE) and an almost favourable four-electron reduction pathway in alkaline medium. ZIF-Co₃O₄/NCF catalyst only shows 4 mV negative shift of E_1/2 after 5000 continuous CV cycles. In addition, the ZIF-Co₃O₄/NCF can be applied as the cathode catalyst of non-aqueous Li–O₂ battery, exhibiting a remarkable ORR activity in LiPF₆ contained 1,2-dimethoxyethane electrolyte. The excellent electrocatalytic performance of ZIF-Co₃O₄/NCF is probably due to the abundance of active sites of graphitic carbon-wrapped Co₃O₄ nanoparticles, as well as the cross-linked fibrous nitrogen-doped carbon texture.     

A Layer-Structured Metal-Organic Framework-Derived Mesoporous Carbon for Efficient Oxygen Reduction Reaction

Developing highly active and durable electrocatalysts for the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) is crucial to large-scale commercialization of fuel cells and metal-air batteries. Here we report a facile approach for the synthesis of nitrogen and oxygen dual-doped mesoporous layer-structured carbon electrocatalyst embedded with graphitic carbon coated cobalt nanoparticles by direct pyrolysis of a layer-structured metal-organic framework. The electrocatalyst prepared at 800℃ exhibits comparable ORR performance to Pt/C catalysts but possesses superior stability to Pt/C catalysts. This synthetic approach provides new prospects in developing sustainable carbon-based electrocatalysts for electrochemical energy conversion devices.     

氧还原反应前沿与进展

主要介绍氧还原反应的研究意义、反应机理以及研究现状。氧还原反应作为燃料电池的阴极反应,其能否高效进行将直接影响燃料电池的转化效率。目前,氧还原反应的反应机制仍存在较大争议,包括活性位点及反应步骤等。商业碳载铂虽然活性很高,然而其在实际应用中却会受到多方面限制。本文着重介绍了近些年报道的非金属及非贵金属催化剂。非金属及非贵金属催化剂在自然界中资源丰富、价格低廉、制备简单、导电性及稳定性良好,且不会被小分子毒化。所以,对非金属及非贵金属材料的氧还原研究可为新型能源装置的应用提供参考。     

N,P-co-Doped Graphdiyne as Efficient Metal-free Catalysts for Oxygen Reduction Reaction

The carbon-based metal-free catalyst is one of the ideal alternatives to Pt as electrocatalysts for oxygen reduction reaction,which can reduce the cost of fuel cells and zinc-air batteries.Here,graphdiyne(GDY),a carbon material with uneven charge distribution,was used as substrate.By doping nitrogen and phosphorus,a N-P-GDY catalyst was prepared,which further regulated the electron structure of GDY.The sheet-like morphology of GDY was preserved in N-P-GDY.The N and P were distributed uniformly in the catalyst,whereas defects and active sites were created by doping N and P,as demonstrated by the element mapping images and Raman spectra.X-Ray photoelectron spectroscopy results indicated N and P existed in many forms in N-P-GDY.The N-P-GDY exhibited higher activity for ORR than only N or P doped GDY,due to the synergistic effect of N and P in N-P-GDY.Moreover,the activity of N-P-GDY changed little after a long time cyclic voltammetry test or injecting methanol in the electrolyte.Besides,the four electrons transfer reaction to produce water was the main process for ORR on N-P-GDY catalysts.     

Microwave Assisted Hydrothermal Way Towards Highly Crystalized N-Doped Carbon Quantum Dots and Their Oxygen Reduction Performance

We proposed a green microwave-assisted hydrothermal way to synthesize highly crystalized N-doped carbon quantum dots(N-CQDs).The N-CQDs obtained by this microwave method have good crystalline degree(ID/IG=0.6)and a high molar ratio of N/C(11.1%)comparing with those obtained from traditional top-down method.The experimental results show that glycerine plays a key role ill the fonnation of highly crystalized N-CQDs.The as-prepared N-CQDs have good luminescent property and may be utilized as fluorescent probe to detect ions or mark cells.As the majority of N atoms in the N-CQDs were pyridinic type(64.8%),the as-prepared N-CQDs were used as a catalyst for the oxygen reduction reaction(ORR)electrocatalysis in the anode of the fuel cell(the onset potential is-0.121V),which was a 4e-transfer procedure and the catalyst showed good stability after 100 cycles.     

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.     

Optimal Configuration of N-Doped Carbon Defects in 2D Turbostratic Carbon Nanomesh for Advanced Oxygen Reduction Electrocatalysis

The charge redistribution strategy driven by heteroatom doping or defect engineering has been developed as an efficient method to endow inert carbon with significant oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) activity. The synergetic effect between the two approaches is thus expected to be more effective for manipulating the charge distribution of carbon materials for exceptional ORR performance. Herein we report a novel molecular design strategy to achieve a 2D porous turbostratic carbon nanomesh with abundant N-doped carbon defects (NDC). The molecular level integration of aromatic rings as the carbon source and urea units as the N source and sacrificial template into the novel precursor of polyurea (PU) promises the formation of abundant carbon edge defects and N doping sites. A special active site—a carbon edge defect doped with a graphitic valley N atom—was revealed to be responsible for the exceptional ORR performance of NDC material.     

Fe/Fe3C Nanoparticles Encapsulated in N-Doped Hollow Carbon Spheres as Efficient Electrocatalysts for the Oxygen Reduction Reaction over a Wide pH Range

Nonprecious-metal-based electrocatalysts with low cost, high activity, and stability are considered as one of the most promising alternatives to Pt-based catalysts for the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR). Herein, an economical and easy-to-fabricate catalyst is developed, that is, Fe/Fe₃C embedded in N-doped hollow carbon spheres (Fe/Fe₃C/NHCS), which gave the half-wave potential of 0.84 V in 0.1 m KOH, similar to the commercial Pt/C catalyst. Surprisingly, the favorable ORR performance of the as-prepared catalyst was obtained in both acidic and neutral conditions with almost a four-electron pathway and low H₂O₂ yield, which desirable the development of the proton exchange membrane (PEM) and microbial electrolysis cell (MEC) technology. Additionally, the obtained catalyst demonstrated better long-term stability and high methanol tolerance over a wide range of pH. These features could be mainly attributed to the synergistic effect between Fe/Fe₃C and Fe-N_x sites, the hollow structure with mesopores, and the well-dispersed Fe/Fe₃C nanoparticles owing to the existence of the abundant hydrophilic groups within the HCS precursor. As such, designing an efficient and cheap ORR catalyst that can operate at alkaline, acidic, and neutral solutions is highly desirable, yet challenging.     

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.     

Negative Pressure Pyrolysis Induced Highly Accessible Single Sites Dispersed on 3D Graphene Frameworks for Enhanced Oxygen Reduction

Herein, we report a negative pressure pyrolysis to access dense single metal sites (Co, Fe, Ni etc.) with high accessibility dispersed on three-dimensional (3D) graphene frameworks (GFs), during which the differential pressure between inside and outside of metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) promotes the cleavage of the derived carbon layers and gradual expansion of mesopores. In situ transmission electron microscopy and Brunauer–Emmett–Teller tests reveal that the formed 3D GFs possess an enhanced mesoporosity and external surface area, which greatly favor the mass transport and utilization of metal sites. This contributes to an excellent oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) activity (half-wave potential of 0.901 V vs. RHE). Theoretical calculations verify that selective carbon cleavage near Co centers can efficiently lower the overall ORR theoretical overpotential in comparison with intact atomic configuration.     

基于血红素衍生的中空非贵金属催化剂氧还原反应电催化活性

血红素作为一种天然金属大环化合物常被用于制备非贵金属电催化剂用于燃料电池阴极的氧还原反应,但是其电催化活性仍有待提升。本文以氯化钠作为模板设计合成了一种中空的铁基非贵金属电催化剂Hemin-HD(Hemin hollow derivative),在碱性介质中该催化剂可以高效地催化氧还原反应。结合透射电镜、X射线衍射、比表面积分析和X射线光电子能谱等物理化学表征可知,与无模板制备的电催化剂Hemin-D(Hemin derivative)相比,Hemin-HD电催化剂比表面积提升了6.5倍,孔容积增加了3.8倍。这主要是由于该电催化剂中空结构的设计使得催化活性位可以同时分散在内表面和外表面,比表面积的增加加强了活性位点的暴露,提高了活性位点密度。此外,Hemin-HD电催化剂中的孔道结构可以有效地改善氧气传质速率,加强活性位点与反应物之间的接触,从而有效提高催化剂的氧还原活性。