Journal article
Hierarchically Porous M-N-C (M = Co and Fe) Single-Atom Electrocatalysts with Robust MNx Active Moieties Enable Enhanced ORR Performance
Advanced energy materials, Vol.8(29), pp.1-8
10/15/2018
Abstract
The great interest in fuel cells inspires a substantial amount of research on nonprecious metal catalysts as alternatives to Pt-based oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) electrocatalysts. In this work, bimodal template-based synthesis strategies are proposed for the scalable preparation of hierarchically porous M-N-C (M = Fe or Co) single-atom electrocatalysts featured with active and robust MN2 active moieties. Multiscale tuning of M-N-C catalysts regarding increasing the number of active sites and boosting the intrinsic activity of each active site is realized simultaneously at a single-atom scale. In addition to the antipoisoning power and high affinity for O-2, the optimized Fe-N-C catalysts with FeN2 active site presents a superior electrocatalytic activity for ORR with a half-wave potential of 0.927 V (vs reversible hydrogen electrode (RHE)) in an alkaline medium, which is 49 and 55 mV higher than those of the Co-N-C counterpart and commercial Pt/C, respectively. Density functional theory calculations reveal that the FeN2 site is more active than the CoN2 site for ORR due to the lower energy barriers of the intermediates and products involved. The present work may help rational design of more robust ORR electrocatalysts at the atomic level, realizing the significant advances in electrochemical conversion and storage devices.
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Details
- Title
- Hierarchically Porous M-N-C (M = Co and Fe) Single-Atom Electrocatalysts with Robust MNx Active Moieties Enable Enhanced ORR Performance
- Creators
- Chengzhou Zhu - Washington State UniversityQiurong Shi - Washington State UniversityBo Z. Xu - University of California, BerkeleyShaofang Fu - Washington State UniversityGang Wan - Argonne National LaboratoryCe Yang - Argonne National LaboratorySiyu Yao - Brookhaven National LaboratoryJunhua Song - Washington State UniversityHua Zhou - Argonne National LaboratoryDan Du - Washington State UniversityScott P. Beckman - Washington State UniversityDong Su - Brookhaven National LaboratoryYuehe Lin - Washington State University
- Publication Details
- Advanced energy materials, Vol.8(29), pp.1-8
- Academic Unit
- School of Mechanical and Materials Engineering
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Number of pages
- 8
- Grant note
- Washington State University, USA DE-SC0012704 / U.S. DOE Office of Science Facility, at Brookhaven National Laboratory; United States Department of Energy (DOE) DE-AC02-06CH11357 / U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, Office of Basic Energy Sciences; United States Department of Energy (DOE)
- Identifiers
- 99901227848501842
- Language
- English
- Resource Type
- Journal article