A facile hard-templating synthesis of mesoporous spinel CoFe2O4nanostructures as promising electrocatalysts for the H2O2reduction reaction

Abstract

Mesoporous spinel cobalt ferrite (CoFe2O4) nanostructures were synthesized via a facile Al2O3-assisted hard-templating (HT) strategy. Their physicochemical properties were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy-energy dispersive X-ray spectra (SEM-EDS), X-ray photoelectron spectra (XPS) and nitrogen sorption measurements. Their electrocatalytic performances towards H2O2 reduction reaction (HRR) were investigated by cyclic voltammetry (CV), chronoamperometry (CA) and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) tests. The obtained CoFe2O4 materials exhibit a superior mesoporous nanostructure with a particle size of around 20 nm, a specific surface area (SSA) of 140.6 m2 g−1 and a mesopore volume of 0.2410 cm3 g−1, which favor their desirable electrocatalytic activity. A current density of 123 mA cm−2 at −0.39 V (vs. Hg/HgO) in 3 M NaOH and 0.5 M H2O2 electrolytes was delivered for HRR. Moreover, the CoFe2O4 electrode exhibits a good stability for the catalytic reaction, showing the promising applications for H2O2-based alkaline fuel cells (AFCs).