Abstract
The development of active and low-cost electrocatalysts for the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) is crucial for the sustainable commercialization of fuel cell technologies. In this study, we have synthetized Me/Mo2C (Me = Fe, Co, Cu)-based composites embedded in N- and P-dual doped carbon by means of inexpensive industrial materials, such as melamine and chitosan, as C and N sources, and the heteropolyacid H3PMo12O40 as P and Mo precursor. The effect of the transition metal (Fe, Co, and Cu) on the ORR in alkaline medium has been investigated. The physicochemical properties of the electrocatalysts were performed by X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), Raman spectroscopy, and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Activity towards ORR was carried out in a three-electrode cell using a ring-disk electrode in 0.1M NaOH. The results obtained clearly show the important role played by each transition metal (Fe, Co, and Cu) in the electrochemical activity. Among them, Fe gives rise to the best performing composite in carrying out the oxygen reduction reaction. The formation Fe3C/Mo2C species embedded in N- and P-dual doped carbon seems to be the determining role in the increase of the ORR performance.
Highlights
The oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) is the main electrochemical reaction occurring at the cathode of polymer electrolyte fuel cells
We have synthetized Me/Mo2C (Me Fe, Co, Cu)based composites embedded in N- and P-dual doped carbon using a facile synthesis strategy developed by our research group (Aghabarari et al, 2019)
All composites show diffraction peaks corresponding to Mo2C (JPCDS 00-035-0787), while MoN (JPCDS 01-077-1999) is observed in Co and Fe composites
Summary
The oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) is the main electrochemical reaction occurring at the cathode of polymer electrolyte fuel cells. Rybarczyk et al studied the formation of nitrogen-doped porous carbonaceous materials by thermal decomposition of a mixture of chitosan and melamine in an inert atmosphere (Rybarczyk et al, 2015; Khan et al, 2020) They found that, in addition to the entire nitrogen content and the kind of nitrogen group (pyridinic N or quaternary N), the content of carbon “kinks” and/or surface roughness deeply influenced the ORR activity. We have synthetized Me/Mo2C (Me Fe, Co, Cu)based composites embedded in N- and P-dual doped carbon using a facile synthesis strategy developed by our research group (Aghabarari et al, 2019) For this preparation, the corresponding metallic precursor and molybdophosphoric acid (HMoP) are pyrolyzed together with the mixture chitosan/melamine as carbon and nitrogen sources. In order to analyze the H2O2 yield, the ORR activity was performed while keeping the Pt ring at 1.2 V
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