氧还原电化学催化剂研究的最新进展

燃料电池可以在接近室温条件下将氢或烃类中蕴含的巨大化学能通过电化学途径直接转化为清洁、稳定、可持续的电能,因而被视为极有前景的、能够满足日益增长的世界能源需求的终极解决方案之一.在一个典型的氢燃料电池中,氢在正极氧化而氧在负极还原,从动力学角度说,氧还原反应(ORR)比氢氧化反应进行的慢得多.无论是在酸性还是碱性条件下,氧的还原都可以一个四电子过程或是两个双电子过程进行,当然在酸性和碱性环境中反应的机理不同.铂一直是最有效的ORR催化剂,但受到价格昂贵、稳定性差和易中毒等因素的制约,目前非铂催化剂成为越来越引人瞩目的发展方向.本综述试图从分子催化剂、金属纳米材料催化剂、金属氧化物催化剂和新兴的二维材料催化剂等方面,选取近十年来最能代表ORR电化学催化剂方面成就的例子分析其优缺点,并为今后该领域的研究提供一些有益的思路.典型的分子催化剂是卟啉类化合物,当这种四齿的N4配体与过渡金属特别是铁、钴络合时,往往显示出良好的ORR催化性能,多数情况下其中的过渡金属中心、配体和碳支撑体系共同组成催化剂的活性中心.在另一些报道中,邻菲罗啉或是连吡啶型N2化合物也可以作为配体使用.第四和第五副族的很多金属形成的不同价态的氧化物都具有氧还原活性,比如MnOx,CoOx,TiOx,ZrOx,IrOx等.金属氧化物表现出易于修饰,不容易团聚和抗腐蚀等诸多优点,而其良好的ORR性能与表面的缺陷密切相关,因此钙钛矿型氧化物ABOx也引起人们的广泛关注,人们可以通过调节氧化物的晶型、尺寸和组成来获得更好的催化性能.近年来随着液相合成技术的发展,人们可以制备出理想形状和尺寸的单分散纳米粒子,然后通过旋涂、自组装等手段将其修饰到合适的电极上以获得增强性能的ORR催化剂.通过形状与尺寸调控,或组合成其它复杂的纳米结构,都有可能提高催化活性或是稳定性,因此有关纳米催化剂的研究日趋增多.在此基础上,考虑到石墨烯的可修饰性和良好的电化学性能,纳米材料复合石墨烯所形成的二维或三维结构也可提供很好的氧还原催化性能,而MoS2代替石墨烯作为支撑物所构成的二维催化剂也是值得注意的研究方向.综上所述,尽管现有的非铂催化剂仍难以完全满足商业化的要求,设计理念和合成方法的快速发展有望在不远的将来解决这一难题.而设计合成可控尺寸、形状、组成和表面形貌的纳米催化剂在很大程度上将加速这一进程.     

Origin of enhanced activity in palladium alloy electrocatalysts for oxygen reduction reaction

We explored the origin of the enhanced activity of Pd-alloy electrocatalysts for the O2 reduction reaction by correlating the electrocatalytic activity of intrinsic Pd and Pt surfaces and Pd and Pt overlayers on several substrates with their electronic properties, and established the volcano-type dependence of O2 reduction activity on the binding energy of oxygen and the d-band center of the top metal layer. Intrinsic Pd and Pt surfaces bind oxygen too firmly to allow efficient removal of the adsorbed reaction intermediates. Therefore, they do not have the highest activity and are not on the top of the volcano plot. A Pd overlayer on a Pd3Fe(111) alloy, was predicted to lie on top of the volcano plot, and thus, it appears to be the most active catalyst among investigated ones because of its moderate interaction with oxygen. The results can help in designing better electrocatalysts for fuel cells and other applications.     

Non-noble metal-carbonized aerogel composites as electrocatalysts for the oxygen reduction reaction

Non-noble metal-based electrocatalysts have been examined for their electrocatalytic activity toward the reduction of oxygen. These materials were prepared from highly porous polyacrylonitrile microcellular foams containing a salt of iron or cobalt, followed by carbonisation. In common with Pt/C, iron or cobalt-carbonized aerogel nanocomposites show good electrocatalytic activity for the oxygen reduction in acidic solutions.     

Penta-coordinated transition metal macrocycles as electrocatalysts for the oxygen reduction reaction

Journal of Solid State Electrochemistry - The oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) is a highly important reaction in electrochemistry. The following short review details recent advances in novel...     

Highly efficient electrocatalysts for oxygen reduction reaction

Highly efficient and chemically compatible LnxSr1-xCoO3-delta (Ln = La, Sm, Gd, ...)/Co3O4 electrocatalysts for oxygen reduction reaction are presented and the very low cathode polarization resistances and excellent performances implied their promising application for developing intermediate-temperature solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs), as well as potential application for oxygen separation membranes.     

Ceria-promoted oxygen reduction reaction in Pd-based electrocatalysts

PdCo-ceria electrocatalyst is synthesized on carbon support in a size of a few nm by colloid method. Enhanced oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) kinetics of PdCo is observed in the presence of ceria similarly as confirmed for PtCo-ceria in a half cell experiment. In addition, there appears a positive shift of the ORR onset potential of PdCo-ceria compared to PdCo while PtCo-ceria shows no such an apparent shift of onset potential. These effects of ceria on the ORR onset potential and the ORR kinetics are more remarkable as temperature increases. To get the most of oxygen storage and supply capacity of ceria, a high temperature proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) is fabricated using PdCo-ceria as a catalyst at the cathode. Ceria effects on the ORR of PdCo-ceria catalyst are realized in the form of higher OCV and lower Tafel slope compared to PdCo catalyst in the PEMFC single cell performance. Enhancements in both ORR kinetics and ORR onset potential are very attractive features of ceria as a co-catalyst in the development of a non-Pt ORR electrocatalyst.     

铂基氧还原电催化剂的结构演变

质子交换膜燃料电池的商业化有望在不久的将来实现更清洁的能源社会.然而,氧还原反应缓慢的反应动力学和苛刻的条件对质子交换膜燃料电池的寿命和成本产生了巨大的挑战.之前大多数铂基催化剂的设计都将重点更多地放在提高活性上.随着质子交换膜燃料电池的商业化,寿命问题也受到了更多的关注.对整个生命周期中结构演变进行深入地了解,有助于...     

Palladium monolayer and palladium alloy electrocatalysts for oxygen reduction

We investigated the oxygen-reduction reaction (ORR) on Pd monolayers on various surfaces and on Pd alloys to obtain a substitute for Pt and to elucidate the origin of their activity. The activity of Pd monolayers supported on Ru(0001), Rh(111), Ir(111), Pt(111), and Au(111) increased in the following order: Pd/Ru(0001) < Pd/Ir(111) < Pd/Rh(111) < Pd/Au(111) < Pd/Pt(111). Their activity was correlated with their d-band centers, which were calculated using density functional theory (DFT). We found a volcano-type dependence of activity on the energy of the d-band center of Pd monolayers, with Pd/Pt(111) at the top of the curve. The activity of the non-Pt Pd2Co/C alloy electrocatalyst nanoparticles that we synthesized was comparable to that of commercial Pt-containing catalysts. The kinetics of the ORR on this electrocatalyst predominantly involves a four-electron step reduction with the first electron transfer being the rate-determining step. The downshift of the d-band center of the Pd "skin", which constitutes the alloy surface due to the strong surface segregation of Pd at elevated temperatures, determined its high ORR activity. Additionally, it showed very high methanol tolerance, retaining very high catalytic activity for the ORR at high concentrations of methanol. Provided its stability is satisfactory, this catalyst might possibly replace Pt in fuel-cell cathodes, especially those of direct methanol oxidation fuel cells (DMFCs).     

Pd-Fe nanoparticles as electrocatalysts for oxygen reduction

We have synthesized new electrocatalysts for the O2 reduction reaction that does not contain Pt. They consist of carbon-supported Pd-Fe alloys and have very high oxygen reduction. The nanoparticles with a Pd:Fe molar ratio of 3:1 (Pd3Fe/C) show a higher mass activity than that of commercial Pt/C. The surface-specific activity of the Pd-Fe alloys is related to the Pd-Pd bond distance: the shorter the bond distance, the higher the activity. This new class of electrocatalysts promises to alleviate some major problems of existing fuel cell technology by simultaneously decreasing materials cost and enhancing performance.     

Metal corroles as electrocatalysts for oxygen reduction

The rotating ring disk electrode method has been used to study O2 electroreduction with metal corroles. Catalysis begins at potentials that are 0.5-0.7 V more positive than the expected potential of the M(III/II) couple based on studies in non-aqueous solutions. The path of O2 reduction depends on the nature of the metal ion. Cobalt corroles promote O2 reduction to H2O2. Iron corroles catalyse O2 reduction via parallel two- and four-electron pathways, with a predominate four-electron reaction. The rate constants for the individual O2 reduction paths are given at pH 7. Mechanisms are proposed on the basis of pH dependence, inhibition studies, and Tafel slopes. An imidazole-tailed iron corrole catalyses H2O2 disproportionation analogous to catalase.     

Covalent hybrid of spinel manganese-cobalt oxide and graphene as advanced oxygen reduction electrocatalysts

Through direct nanoparticle nucleation and growth on nitrogen doped, reduced graphene oxide sheets and cation substitution of spinel Co(3)O(4) nanoparticles, a manganese-cobalt spinel MnCo(2)O(4)/graphene hybrid was developed as a highly efficient electrocatalyst for oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) in alkaline conditions. Electrochemical and X-ray near-edge structure (XANES) investigations revealed that the nucleation and growth method for forming inorganic-nanocarbon hybrids results in covalent coupling between spinel oxide nanoparticles and N-doped reduced graphene oxide (N-rmGO) sheets. Carbon K-edge and nitrogen K-edge XANES showed strongly perturbed C-O and C-N bonding in the N-rmGO sheet, suggesting the formation of C-O-metal and C-N-metal bonds between N-doped graphene oxide and spinel oxide nanoparticles. Co L-edge and Mn L-edge XANES suggested substitution of Co(3+) sites by Mn(3+), which increased the activity of the catalytic sites in the hybrid materials, further boosting the ORR activity compared with the pure cobalt oxide hybrid. The covalently bonded hybrid afforded much greater activity and durability than the physical mixture of nanoparticles and carbon materials including N-rmGO. At the same mass loading, the MnCo(2)O(4)/N-graphene hybrid can outperform Pt/C in ORR current density at medium overpotentials with stability superior to Pt/C in alkaline solutions.     

Rational design of platinum-group-metal-free electrocatalysts for oxygen reduction reaction

Platinum-group-metal (PGM)-free materials have been promised as potential replacement for Pt as the cathodic catalyst in proton exchange membrane fuel cells. Critical design criteria of the PGM-free catalyst reside on the high active site density to compensate its generally lower turn-over frequency and improved mass-charge transfers during the electrocatalysis. This short review summarizes the research activities in recent years from our team at Argonne National Laboratory in preparing highly active oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) catalysts using rationally designed porous organic precursors, as reported in the First Telluride Science Research Center (TSRC) Workshop on PGM-free Electrocatalysis in 2019. More recent studies by others are also discussed.     

Ruthenium-based electrocatalysts for oxygen reduction reaction—a review

A major impediment to the commercialization of fuel cells is the low activity of electrocatalysts for the oxygen reduction reaction that involves multiple electron transfer steps. Platinum is considered the best cathode catalyst toward oxygen reduction to water; however, Pt remains an expensive metal of low abundance, and it is of great importance to find Pt-free metal alternatives. Among various Pt-free catalysts under development, ruthenium-based compounds show significant catalytic activity and selectivity for four-electron reduction of oxygen to water in acidic environments. This article provides a short review on the different classes of Ru-based catalysts focusing on the catalytically active reaction sites and the oxygen reduction mechanism in acidic media. After a brief discussion of the oxygen reduction kinetics on a pure Ru metal, the paper reviews the catalytic properties of the selected Ru compounds, including crystalline Chevrel-phase chalcogenides, nanostructured Ru and Ru–Se clusters, and Ru–N chelate compounds. This paper is dedicated to Professor Su-Il Pyun, who has pioneered advances in interfacial electrochemistry in the field of corrosion and materials science in South Korea, on the occasion of his 65th birthday.     

Surface-tailored PtPdCu ultrathin nanowires as advanced electrocatalysts for ethanol oxidation and oxygen reduction reaction in direct ethanol fuel cell

The development of advanced electrocatalysts for efficient catalyzing ethanol oxidation reaction(EOR)and oxygen reduction reaction(ORR) is significant for direct ethanol fuel cells(DEFCs).However,in many previous studies,the major difficulties including lower utilization efficiency and weaker anti-CO-poison ability of Pt hamper the practical testing of such DEFCs,Herein,ternary Pt22Pd27C51 ultrathin(~5 nm)NWs are fabricated via a facile surfactant-free strategy.The surface and electronic structures of Pt22Pd27Cu51 NWs are further tailored via acid-etching treatment.The resulted PtPdCu NWs with an optimal atomic Pt/Pd/Cu ratio of 36:41:23 display excellent specific activities towards EOR(4.38 mA/cm²)and ORR(1.16 mA/cm²),which are 19.8-and 5.7-folds larger than that of Pt/C,respectively.A singlecell was fabricated using Pt36Pd41Cu23 NWs as electrocatalyst in both anode and cathode with Pt loading of 1.2 mgpt/cm².The power density measured at 80 ℃ is 21.7 mW/cm²,which is ~3.9 folds enhancement relative to that fabricated by using Pt/C(2 mgPt/cm²).The enhanced catalytic performance of Pt36Pd41Cu23NWs could be attributed to that synergistic effect between Pt,Pd and Cu enhances CO anti-poisoning ability and promotes the C-C bond cleavage.This work provides a promising strategy for developing efficient electrocatalysts for DEFCs.     

Structural dependence of oxygen reduction reaction on palladium nanocrystals

We have synthesized sub-10 nm Pd cubic and octahedral nanocrystals and then evaluated their activities towards oxygen reduction reaction (ORR). The ORR activity of Pd nanocubes was one order of magnitude higher than that of Pd octahedra, and comparable to that of the state-of-the-art Pt catalysts.     

Active site engineering of single-atom carbonaceous electrocatalysts for the oxygen reduction reaction

The electrocatalytic oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) is the vital process at the cathode of next-generation electrochemical storage and conversion technologies, such as metal–air batteries and fuel cells. Single-metal-atom and nitrogen co-doped carbonaceous electrocatalysts (M–N–C) have emerged as attractive alternatives to noble-metal platinum for catalyzing the kinetically sluggish ORR due to their high electrical conductivity, large surface area, and structural tunability at the atomic level, however, their application is limited by the low intrinsic activity of the metal–nitrogen coordination sites (M–N_x) and inferior site density. In this Perspective, we summarize the recent progress and milestones relating to the active site engineering of single atom carbonous electrocatalysts for enhancing the ORR activity. Particular emphasis is placed on the emerging strategies for regulating the electronic structure of the single metal site and populating the site density. In addition, challenges and perspectives are provided regarding the future development of single atom carbonous electrocatalysts for the ORR and their utilization in practical use.

This Perspective summarizes and highlights the recent progress and milestones relating to the active site engineering of single atom carbonous electrocatalysts for enhancing the electrocatalytic oxygen reduction reaction activity.