Abstract
There is a growing need to develop sustainable electrocatalysts to facilitate the reduction of molecular oxygen that occurs at the cathode in fuel cells, due to the excessive cost and limited availability of precious metal-based catalysts. This study reports the synthesis and characterization of phosphorus and nitrogen co-doped carbon (PNDC) and silicon, phosphorus, and nitrogen tri-doped carbon (SiPNDC) electrocatalysts derived from molasses. This robust microwave-assisted synthesis approach is used to develop a low cost and environmentally friendly carbon with high surface area for application in fuel cells. Co-doped PNDC as well as tri-doped SiPNDC showed Brunauer–Emmet–Teller (BET) surface areas of 437 and 426 m2 g−1, respectively, with well-developed porosity. However, examination of X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) data revealed significant alteration in the doping elemental composition among both samples. The results obtained using rotating disk electrode (RDE) measurements show that tri-doped SiPNDC achieves much closer to a 4-electron process than co-doped PNDC. Detailed analysis of experimental results acquired from rotating ring disk electrode (RRDE) studies indicates that there is a negligible amount of peroxide formation during ORR, further confirming the direct-electron transfer pathway results obtained from RDE. Furthermore, SiPNDC shows stable oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) performance over 2500 cycles, making this material a promising electrocatalyst for fuel cell applications.
Highlights
Published: 2 June 2021As the world population is growing and consuming more non-renewable energy sources, a major sector of research is dedicated to seeking alternative methods of storing and transferring energy
The SiPNDC surface is comprised of rough sheet-like structures, with spherical decorations (Figure 1c,d)
The materials enhanced the product yield of SiPNDC compared to dual-doped phosphorus and nitrogen co-doped carbon (PNDC)
Summary
Published: 2 June 2021As the world population is growing and consuming more non-renewable energy sources, a major sector of research is dedicated to seeking alternative methods of storing and transferring energy. Fuel cells are just one of the many types of energy conversion devices currently on the market These cells utilize molecular oxygen and a fuel source (hydrogen, methanol, etc.) to produce electrical energy and water vapor as a byproduct [1]. Many modern research studies investigate the use of non-metallic catalysts for use in oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) fuel cells [5,6]. Alternative electrocatalysts such as metal oxides [7,8], graphene and graphene oxide [9], and other carbon-based materials [6] are currently being investigated for use in fuel cell devices
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