Electrochemical Preparation of N‐Doped Cobalt Oxide Nanoparticles with High Electrocatalytic Activity for the Oxygen‐Reduction Reaction

Nitrogen‐doped CoO (N‐CoO) nanoparticles with high electrocatalytic activity for the oxygen‐reduction reaction (ORR) were fabricated by electrochemical reduction of CoCl₂ in acetonitrile solution at cathodic potentials. The initially generated, highly reactive nitrogen‐doped Co nanoparticles were readily oxidized to N‐CoO nanoparticles in air. In contrast to their N‐free counterparts (CoO or Co₃O₄), N‐CoO nanoparticles with a N content of about 4.6 % exhibit remarkable ORR electrocatalytic activity, stability, and immunity to methanol crossover in an alkaline medium. The Co?N_x active sites in the CoO nanoparticles are held responsible for the high ORR activity. This work opens a new path for the preparation of nitrogen‐doped transition metal oxide nanomaterials, which are promising electrocatalysts for fuel cells.     

Reversible Electrocatalytic Activity of Carbon‐Supported PtxNi1−x in Hydrogen Reactions

Hydrogen oxidation and evolution reactions (HOR and HER) are studied on Pt_xNi_1?x/C materials synthesized by the bromide anion exchange method. Physicochemical characterization shows that this surfactant‐free method enables the preparation of well‐dispersed and effective catalysts for the processes involved in the anode of H₂/O₂ fuel cells (HOR) and the cathode of water electrolyzers (HER). The Pt‐based materials are modified with different Ni contents to decrease the amount of costly precious metal in the electrode materials. These modified Pt‐based materials are found to be electroactive for both reactions without additional overpotential. Kinetic parameters such as the Tafel slope, exchange (j₀) and kinetic current densities, and the rate‐determining steps of the reaction mechanisms are determined for each Pt–Ni catalyst and compared to those obtained at the Pt/C surface in alkaline medium. The high j₀ values that are obtained indicate a probable contribution of the surface structure of the catalysts due to their roughness and the presence of oxygenated Ni species even at low potentials.     

Pig Bone Derived Hierarchical Porous Carbon‐Supported Platinum Nanoparticles with Superior Electrocatalytic Activity Towards Oxygen Reduction Reaction

Hierarchical porous carbon (HPC) with nitrogen doped three dimension open macropore structure was prepared from pig bone, and applied for the support material for platinum nanoparticle (Pt NP) electrocatalyst. Compared with carbon black supported Pt NP electrocatalysts, the Pt/HPC exhibited larger electrochemical active surface area and enhanced catalytic properties for the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) in terms of on‐set potential, current density, mass activity and stability. The superior catalytic activity is mainly attributed to the high surface area, hierarchical porous structures and the nitrogen‐doped surface properties of the HPC, indicating it is a promising support material for the ORR electrocatalysts.     

Hyperporous‐Carbon‐Supported Nonprecious Metal Electrocatalysts for the Oxygen Reduction Reaction

Highly porous carbonaceous nonprecious metal catalysts for the oxygen reduction reaction are prepared by carbonization of low‐cost metalloporphyrin‐based hyper‐crosslinked polymers (MPH‐X). With high surface area (2768 m² g⁻¹), hierarchical porous structure, and high metal loading (9.97 wt %), the obtained hyperporous carbon MPH‐Fe/C catalyst exhibits high oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) activity with a half‐wave potential (0.816 V) that is comparable to the 0.819 V of commercial Pt/C. Stability tests reveal that MPH‐Fe/C also exhibits outstanding long‐term durability and methanol tolerance. Our findings may offer an alternative approach to produce nonprecious metal ORR catalysts on a large scale owing to the low‐cost MPH‐X precursors with diverse metal types.     

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.     

Relating the Composition of PtxRu100−x/C Nanoparticles to Their Structural Aspects and Electrocatalytic Activities in the Methanol Oxidation Reaction

A controlled composition‐based method—that is, the microwave‐assisted ethylene glycol (MEG) method—was successfully developed to prepare bimetallic Pt_xRu_100?x/C nanoparticles (NPs) with different alloy compositions. This study highlights the impact of the variation in alloy composition of Pt_xRu_100?x/C NPs on their alloying extent (structure) and subsequently their catalytic activity towards the methanol oxidation reaction (MOR). The alloying extent of these Pt_xRu_100?x/C NPs has a strong influence on their Pt d‐band vacancy and Pt electroactive surface area (Pt ECSA); this relationship was systematically evaluated by using X‐ray absorption (XAS), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) coupled with energy dispersive X‐ray spectroscopy (EDX), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), density functional theory (DFT) calculations, and electrochemical analyses. The MOR activity depends on two effects that act in cooperation, namely, the number of active Pt sites and their activity. Here the number of active Pt sites is associated with the Pt ECSA value, whereas the Pt‐site activity is associated with the alloying extent and Pt d‐band vacancy (electronic) effects. Among the Pt_xRu_100?x/C NPs with various Pt:Ru atomic ratios (x=25, 50, and 75), the Pt₇₅Ru₂₅/C NPs were shown to be superior in MOR activity on account of their favorable alloying extent, Pt d‐band vacancy, and Pt ECSA. This short study brings new insight into probing the synergistic effect on the surface reactivity of the Pt_xRu_100?x/C NPs, and possibly other bimetallic Pt‐based alloy NPs.     

Designed Synthesis of Well‐Defined Pd@Pt Core–Shell Nanoparticles with Controlled Shell Thickness as Efficient Oxygen Reduction Electrocatalysts

Improving the electrocatalytic activity and durability of Pt‐based catalysts with low Pt content toward the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) is one of the main challenges in advancing the performance of polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs). Herein, a designed synthesis of well‐defined Pd@Pt core–shell nanoparticles (NPs) with a controlled Pt shell thickness of 0.4–1.2 nm by a facile wet chemical method and their electrocatalytic performances for ORR as a function of shell thickness are reported. Pd@Pt NPs with predetermined structural parameters were prepared by in situ heteroepitaxial growth of Pt on as‐synthesized 6 nm Pd NPs without any sacrificial layers and intermediate workup processes, and thus the synthetic procedure for the production of Pd@Pt NPs with well‐defined sizes and shell thicknesses is greatly simplified. The Pt shell thickness could be precisely controlled by adjusting the molar ratio of Pt to Pd. The ORR performance of the Pd@Pt NPs strongly depended on the thickness of their Pt shells. The Pd@Pt NPs with 0.94 nm Pt shells exhibited enhanced specific activity and higher durability compared to other Pd@Pt NPs and commercial Pt/C catalysts. Testing Pd@Pt NPs with 0.94 nm Pt shells in a membrane electrode assembly revealed a single‐cell performance comparable with that of the Pt/C catalyst despite their lower Pt content, that is the present NP catalysts can facilitate low‐cost and high‐efficient applications of PEMFCs.     

Ordered PdCu‐Based Nanoparticles as Bifunctional Oxygen‐Reduction and Ethanol‐Oxidation Electrocatalysts

The development of superior non‐platinum electrocatalysts for enhancing the electrocatalytic activity and stability for the oxygen‐reduction reaction (ORR) and liquid fuel oxidation reaction is very important for the commercialization of fuel cells, but still a great challenge. Herein, we demonstrate a new colloidal chemistry technique for making structurally ordered PdCu‐based nanoparticles (NPs) with composition control from PdCu to PdCuNi and PtCuCo. Under the dual tuning on the composition and intermetallic phase, the ordered PdCuCo NPs exhibit better activity and much enhanced stability for ORR and ethanol‐oxidation reaction (EOR) than those of disordered PdCuM NPs, the commercial Pt/C and Pd/C catalysts. The density functional theory (DFT) calculations reveal that the improved ORR activity on the PdCuM NPs stems from the catalytically active hollow sites arising from the ligand effect and the compressive strain on the Pd surface owing to the smaller atomic size of Cu, Co, and Ni.     

多尺度炭材料担载铂作为稳定的电催化剂用于氧还原反应

炭载体的稳定性对于燃料电池电催化剂是至关重要的. 本文中采用酚醛树脂作为前驱体,二氧化硅为模板剂,制备了多介孔且石墨化程度高的炭载体（HGMC）. 相比于商品Vulcan XC-72,HGMC具有中等的比表面积和高的石墨化程度,因此在电位循环扫描过程中具有较高的化学稳定性,然而HGMC碳层堆叠的结构不利于传质. 为克服这一劣势,多壁碳纳米管（MWCNTs）作为隔离物加入至HGMC中以构建具有三维多尺度结构的载体（MSGC）. 与HGMC为载体担载Pt以及商品催化剂Pt/C-JM相比,由于炭载体的具有高稳定性以及三维多尺度结构,MSGC担载Pt后不仅使电催化剂的电化学稳定性提高,且氧还原反应过程中传质得到显著改善.     

Tuning Nanoparticle Catalysis for the Oxygen Reduction Reaction

Advances in chemical syntheses have led to the formation of various kinds of nanoparticles (NPs) with more rational control of size, shape, composition, structure and catalysis. This review highlights recent efforts in the development of Pt and non‐Pt based NPs into advanced nanocatalysts for efficient oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) under fuel‐cell reaction conditions. It first outlines the shape controlled synthesis of Pt NPs and their shape‐dependent ORR. Then it summarizes the studies of alloy and core–shell NPs with controlled electronic (alloying) and strain (geometric) effects for tuning ORR catalysis. It further provides a brief overview of ORR catalytic enhancement with Pt‐based NPs supported on graphene and coated with an ionic liquid. The review finally introduces some non‐Pt NPs as a new generation of catalysts for ORR. The reported new syntheses with NP parameter‐tuning capability should pave the way for future development of highly efficient catalysts for applications in fuel cells, metal‐air batteries, and even in other important chemical reactions.     

Chemical Dealloying Mechanism of Bimetallic Pt–Co Nanoparticles and Enhancement of Catalytic Activity toward Oxygen Reduction

The chemical dealloying mechanism of bimetallic Pt–Co nanoparticles (NPs) and enhancement of their electrocatalytic activity towards the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) have been investigated on a fundamental level by the combination of X‐ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) and aberration‐corrected scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM). Structural parameters, such as coordination numbers, alloy extent, and the unfilled d states of Pt atoms, are derived from the XAS spectra, together with the compositional variation analyzed by line‐scanning energy‐dispersive X‐ray spectroscopy (EDX) on an atomic scale, to gain new insights into the dealloying process of bimetallic Pt–Co NPs. The XAS results on acid‐treated Pt–Co/C NPs reveal that the Co–Co bonding in the bimetallic NPs dissolves first and the remaining morphology gradually transforms to a Pt‐skin structure. From cyclic voltammetry and mass activity measurements, Pt–Co alloy NPs with a Pt‐skin structure significantly enhance the catalytic performance towards the ORR. Further, it is observed that such an imperfect Pt‐skin surface feature will collapse due to the penetration of electrolyte into layers underneath and cause further dissolution of Co and the loss of Pt. The electrocatalytic activity decreases accordingly, if the dealloying process lasts for 4 h. The findings not only demonstrate the importance of appropriate treatment of bimetallic catalysts, but also can be referred to other Pt bimetallic alloys with transition metals.     

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     

碳纳米粒子支撑的钯纳米催化剂在甲酸氧化中的电催化活性

采用化学还原法制备了碳纳米粒子支撑的钯纳米结构(Pd-CNP). 透射电镜表征显示在Pd-CNP纳米复合物中,金属Pd呈菜花状结构,粒径约20~30 nm。它们由许多更小的Pd纳米粒子（3~8 nm）组成. 电化学研究表明,虽然Pd-CNP的电化学活性面积比商业Pd黑低40%（可能原因是部分Pd表面被一层碳纳米粒子覆盖）,但其对甲酸氧化却表现出更好的电催化活性：质量比活性和面积比活性都比Pd黑高几倍. 催化活性增强的原因可能是碳纳米粒子支撑的Pd纳米结构具有特殊的层次化结构,可以形成更多的活性位,以及表面位更利于反应进行.     

A Nanoporous PdCo Alloy as a Highly Active Electrocatalyst for the Oxygen‐Reduction Reaction and Formic Acid Electrooxidation

A nanoporous (NP) PdCo alloy with uniform structure size and controllable bimetallic ratio was fabricated simply by one‐step mild dealloying of a PdCoAl precursor alloy. The as‐made alloy consists of a nanoscaled bicontinuous network skeleton with interconnected hollow channels that extend in all three dimensions. With a narrow ligament size distribution around 5 nm, the NP PdCo alloy exhibits much higher electrocatalytic activity towards the oxygen‐reduction reaction (ORR) with enhanced specific and mass activities relative to NP Pd and commercial Pt/C catalysts. A long‐term stability test demonstrated that NP PdCo has comparable catalytic durability with less loss of ORR activity and electrochemical surface area than Pt/C. The NP PdCo alloy also shows dramatically enhanced catalytic activity towards formic acid electrooxidation relative to NP Pd and Pd/C catalysts. The as‐made NP PdCo holds great application potential as a promising cathode as well as an anode electrocatalyst in fuel cells with the advantages of superior catalytic performance and easy preparation.     

多孔碳纳米纤维负载Pd纳米颗粒用于增强电催化氧还原性能

采用溶剂热法合成了以锆为金属核心、2-氨基为配体的锆基金属有机骨架(UiO-66)纳米材料,通过静电纺丝技术制备出UiO-66自由分散的聚丙烯腈(PAN/UiO-66)纤维,可控热解得到多孔碳纳米纤维(porous carbon nanofibers,PCNFs),结合湿化学还原法在PCNFs表面沉积Pd纳米颗粒,得到PCNFs@Pd复合材料。通过扫描电子显微镜、透射电子显微镜、X射线衍射技术对其形貌、组成、结构进行表征;采用电化学工作站分别测试了PCNFs@Pd在0.1 mol·L^-1KOH和0.1 mol·L^-1HClO₄电解质中氧还原性能(oxygen reduction reaction,ORR)。结果表明,在PAN纤维中添加UiO-66显著提高了PCNFs@Pd(Pd负载量为0.34%)复合材料的ORR性能。相比40%Pt/C,在碱性电解质中,PCNFs@Pd复合材料展示出更低的Tafel斜率、更优异的循环稳定性和耐甲醇中毒性。在酸性电解质中也表现出类似20%Pt/C的催化活性和循环稳定性。     

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.     

Pt‐Pd‐Co Trimetallic Alloy Network Nanostructures with Superior Electrocatalytic Activity towards the Oxygen Reduction Reaction

Pt alloy nanostructures show great promise as electrocatalysts for the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) in fuel cell cathodes. Herein, three‐dimensional (3D) Pt‐Pd‐Co trimetallic network nanostructures (TNNs) with a high degree of alloying are synthesized through a room temperature wet chemical synthetic method by using K₂PtCl₄/K₃Co(CN)₆–K₂PdCl₄/K₃Co(CN)₆ mixed cyanogels as the reaction precursor in the absence of surfactants and templates. The size, morphology, and surface composition of the Pt‐Pd‐Co TNNs are investigated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), selected‐area electron diffraction (SAED), energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), EDS mapping, X‐ray diffraction (XRD), and X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The 3D backbone structure, solid nature, and trimetallic properties of the mixed cyanogels are responsible for the 3D structure and high degree of alloying of the as‐prepared products. Compared with commercially available Pt black, the Pt‐Pd‐Co TNNs exhibit superior electrocatalytic activity and stability towards the ORR, which is ascribed to their unique 3D structure, low hydroxyl surface coverage and alloy properties.     

Ion‐Exchange‐Assisted Synthesis of Pt‐VC Nanoparticles Loaded on Graphitized Carbon: A High‐Performance Nanocomposite Electrocatalyst for Oxygen‐Reduction Reactions

Carbide‐based electrocatalysts are superior to traditional carbon‐based electrocatalysts, such as the commercial Pt/C electrocatalysts, in terms of their mass activity and stability. Herein, we report a general approach for the preparation of a nanocomposite electrocatalyst of platinum and vanadium carbide nanoparticles that are loaded onto graphitized carbon. The nanocomposite, which was prepared in a localized and controlled fashion by using an ion‐exchange process, was an effective electrocatalyst for the oxygen‐reduction reaction (ORR). Both the stability and the durability of the Pt‐VC/GC nanocomposite catalyst could be enhanced compared with the state‐of‐the‐art Pt/C. This approach can be extended to the synthesis of other metal‐carbide‐based nanocatalysts. Moreover, this straightforward synthesis of high‐performance composite nanocatalysts can be scaled up to meet the requirements for mass production.