Metal-free Electrocatalyst For Oxygen Reduction Reaction Research Articles

Heteroatoms ternary-doped porous carbons derived from MOFs as metal-free electrocatalysts for oxygen reduction reaction.

The nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P) and sulphur (S) ternary-doped metal-free porous carbon materials have been successfully synthesized using MOFs as templates (denoted as NPS-C-MOF-5) for oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) for the first time. The influences of porous carbons from carbonizing different MOFs and carbonization temperature on ORR have been systematically investigated. Due to the synergistic effect of N, P and S ternary-doping, the NPS-C-MOF-5 catalyst shows a higher onset potential as a metal-free electrocatalyst for ORR among the currently reported metal-free electrocatalysts, very close to the commercial Pt-C catalyst. In particular, the kinetic limiting current density of NPS-C-MOF-5 catalyst at −0.6 V is up to approximate −11.6 mA cm−2, which is 1.2 times higher than that of the commercial Pt-C catalyst. Furthermore, the outstanding methanol tolerance and excellent long-term stability of NPS-C-MOF-5 are superior to those of the commercial Pt-C catalyst for ORR in alkaline media.

Metal-Free Ketjenblack Incorporated Nitrogen-Doped Carbon Sheets Derived from Gelatin as Oxygen Reduction Catalysts

Electrocatalysts facilitating oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) are vital components in advanced fuel cells and metal-air batteries. Here we report Ketjenblack incorporated nitrogen-doped carbon sheets derived from gelatin and apply these easily scalable materials as metal-free electrocatalysts for ORR. These carbon nanosheets demonstrate highly comparable catalytic activity for ORR as well as better durability than commercial Vulcan carbon supported Pt catalysts in alkaline media. Physico-chemical characterization and theoretical calculations suggest that proper combination of graphitic and pyridinic nitrogen species with more exposed edge sites effectively facilitates a formation of superoxide, [O2(ad)](-), via one-electron transfer, thus increasing catalytic activities for ORR. Our results demonstrate a novel strategy to expose more nitrogen doped edge sites by irregular stacked small sheets in developing better electrocatalysts for Zn-air batteries. These desirable architectures are embodied by an amphiphlilic gelatin mediated compatible synthetic strategy between hydrophobic carbon and aqueous water.

Nitrogen and Phosphorus Dual‐Doped Hierarchical Porous Carbon Foams as Efficient Metal‐Free Electrocatalysts for Oxygen Reduction Reactions

Despite tremendous progress in developing doped carbocatalysts for the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR), the ORR activity of current metal-free carbocatalysts is still inferior to that of conventional Pt/C catalysts, especially in acidic media and neutral solution. Moreover, it also remains a challenge to develop an effective and scalable method for the synthesis of metal-free carbocatalysts. Herein, we have developed nitrogen and phosphorus dual-doped hierarchical porous carbon foams (HP-NPCs) as efficient metal-free electrocatalysts for ORR. The HP-NPCs were prepared for the first time by copyrolyzing nitrogen- and phosphorus-containing precursors and poly(vinyl alcohol)/polystyrene (PVA/PS) hydrogel composites as in situ templates. Remarkably, the resulting HP-NPCs possess controllable nitrogen and phosphorus content, high surface area, and a hierarchical interconnected macro-/mesoporous structure. In studying the effects of the HP-NPCs on the ORR, we found that the as-prepared HP-NPC materials exhibited not only excellent catalytic activity for ORR in basic, neutral, and acidic media, but also much better tolerance for methanol oxidation and much higher stability than the commercial, state-of-the-art Pt/C catalysts. Because of all these outstanding features, it is expected that the HP-NPC material will be a very suitable catalyst for next-generation fuel cells and lithium-air batteries. In addition, the novel synthetic method described here might be extended to the preparation of many other kinds of hierarchical porous carbon materials or porous carbon that contains metal oxide for wide applications including energy storage, catalysis, and electrocatalysis.

ZIF-derived in situ nitrogen-doped porous carbons as efficient metal-free electrocatalysts for oxygen reduction reaction

We have successfully prepared nanoporous Carbon-L and -S materials by using ZIF-7 as a precursor and glucose as an additional carbon source. Results indicate that Carbon-L and -S show an appropriate nitrogen content, high surface area, robust pore structure and excellent graphitization degree. The addition of an environmentally friendly carbon source – glucose – not only improves the graphitization degree of samples, but also plays a key role in removing residual Zn metal and zinc compound impurities, which makes the resulting materials metal-free in situ nitrogen-doped porous carbons. By further investigating the electrocatalytic performance of these nitrogen-doped porous carbons for oxygen reduction reaction (ORR), we find that Carbon-L, as a metal-free electrocatalyst, shows excellent electrocatalytic activity (the onset and half-wave potentials are 0.86 and 0.70 V vs. RHE, respectively) and nearly four electron selectivity (the electron transfer number is 3.68 at 0.3 V), which is close to commercial 20% Pt/C. Moreover, when methanol was added, the Pt/C catalyst would be poisoned while the Carbon-L and -S would be unaffected. By exploring the current-time chronoamperometric response in 25 000 s, we found that the duration stability of Carbon-L is much better than the commercial 20% Pt/C. Thus, both Carbon-L and -S exhibit excellent ability to avoid methanol crossover effects, and long-term operation stability superior to the Pt/C catalyst. This work provides a new strategy for in situ synthesis of N-doped porous carbons as metal-free electrocatalysts for ORR in fuel cells.

Synthesis and Electrocatalytic Oxygen Reduction Performance of the Sulfur-Doped Carbon Nanocages

The sluggish oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) is the bottleneck in the development of fuel cells, and replacing precious and nondurable Pt catalysts by the material with low cost, high activity and good stability is a main challenge. Car- bon-based metal-free ORR electrocatalysts have become a promising alternative of commercial Pt/C catalyst due to their superior catalytic activity, high stability and low cost. Recent studies revealed that the doping of N, B, P or S atoms could boost the ORR electrocatalytic performance of carbon nanomaterials, and the catalytic activities were highly dependent on the doping elements, amounts and microstructures. In this study, sulfur-doped carbon nanocages (SCNCs) were synthesized by chemical vapor deposition method using in situ generated MgO as template and thiophene/benzene as precursors. The resultant SCNCs possessed high specific surface area of ca. 1000 m 2 •g -1 , abundant pore structure and superior graphitization degree. The X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy result showed sulfur atoms were doped into the carbon framework as the C― S―C moieties. The content of sulfur in the SCNCs was adjusted in the range of 0~3.45 at% by changing the amount of thiophene in the precursor. All the SCNCs samples had comparable specific surface area and similar pore structure. As an electrocatalyst for oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) in alkaline medium, the SCNCs exhibited a sulfur-content-dependent performance. The SCNCs with sulfur content of 0.84 at% demonstrated the optimal ORR performance. With further increas- ing the sulfur content, the ORR performance of the SCNCs gradually degraded and even inferior to that of the pure CNCs when the sulfur content was higher than 1.61 at%. In addition, the SCNCs showed better stability and immunity to methanol crossover than the Pt/C catalyst. This result is suggestive for designing advanced metal-free ORR electrocatalysts by regulat- ing the species and content of dopants and doping microstructures. Keywords carbon nanocages; sulfur doping; oxygen reduction; metal-free; fuel cells

A mini review on carbon-based metal-free electrocatalysts for oxygen reduction reaction

Exploration of low-cost and high-performance oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) electrocatalysts to replace Pt-based catalysts is now undergoing fast and dynamic development. Metal-free carbon-based ORR electrocatalysts have interesting catalytic activities, high stabilities, and good CO and methanol tolerances, and their constituents are abundantly available. They are therefore potential alternatives to Pt-based catalysts. This paper briefly reviews the main progress in this emerging field, in combination with studies performed by our group. Special attention is paid to electron-rich N or electron-deficient B mono-/co-doped carbon nanostructures, and the correlation between the ORR activity and the electronic structure of the sp 2 carbon material. The bright perspectives are speculated for this new kind of promising metal-free ORR electrocatalysts. Advanced metal-free carbon-based oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) electrocatalysts are reviewed in combination with updates from studies in our laboratory, and the correlation between ORR activity and the electronic structure of sp 2 carbon materials is highlighted.

Space‐Confinement‐Induced Synthesis of Pyridinic‐ and Pyrrolic‐Nitrogen‐Doped Graphene for the Catalysis of Oxygen Reduction

The development of high-performance and low-cost catalytic materials for the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) has been a major challenge for the large-scale application of fuel cells. Currently, platinum and platinum-based alloys are the most efficient ORR catalysts in fuel-cell cathodes; however, they cannot meet the demand for the widespread commercialization of fuel cells because of the scarcity of platinum. Thus, the ongoing search for platinum-free catalysts for the ORR has attracted much attention. Graphene, single-layer sheets of sp-hybridized carbon atoms, has attracted tremendous attention and research interest. The abundance of free-flowing p electrons in carbon materials composed of sp-hybridized carbon atoms makes these materials potential catalysts for reactions that require electrons, such as the ORR. However, these p electrons are too inert to be used directly in the ORR. In N-doped electron-rich carbon nanostructures, carbon p electrons have been shown to be activated through conjugation with lone-pair electrons from N dopants; thus, O2 molecules are reduced on the positively charged C atoms that neighbor N atoms. Recently, Hu and co-workers found that as long as the electroneutrality of the sp-hybridized carbon atoms is broken and charged sites that favor O2 adsorption are created, these materials will be transformed into active metal-free ORR electrocatalysts regardless of whether the dopants are electron-rich (e.g., N) or electrondeficient (e.g., B). Nitrogen-doped carbon (NC) materials are considered to be promising catalysts because of their acceptable ORR activity, low cost, good durability, and environmental friendliness. However, their ORR activity is less competitive, especially in acidic media. Relative to commercial Pt/C, the difference in the half-wave potential for ORR is within 25 mV in alkaline electrolytes but is greater than 200 mV in acidic electrolytes. The activity of NC materials can be enhanced through efficient N doping with sufficient active species that favor ORR and through an increase in electrical conductivity. The annealing of graphitized carbon materials, such as carbon nanotubes and microporous carbon black, in NH3 leads to insufficient substitution of nitrogen because of the well-ordered structure of the host materials. Alternatively, the direct pyrolysis of nitrogen-containing hydrocarbons or polymers produces NC materials with good incorporation of nitrogen. However, suitable pyrolysis temperatures are difficult to pinpoint; without optimization, temperatures that are excessively low or excessively high lead to low electronic conductivity or a remarkable loss of active N species, respectively. Recently, mesoporous-alumina-assisted and silica-template-assisted nitrogen incorporation, which can preserve a high content of N in synthesized NC materials, have been reported. However the activities of the resulting NC materials in the ORR were still significantly lower than that of Pt/C, even when the N content was as high as 10.7 atm%. Among three types of N atoms, that is, pyridinic, pyrrolic, and quaternary N, only the pyridinic and pyrrolic forms, which have planar structures, have been proven to be active in the ORR. In contrast, quaternary N atoms, which possess a 3D structure, are not active in the ORR. The low electrical conductivity of NC materials with quaternary N atoms results from the interruption of their p–p conjugation by the 3D structure and is thought to be predominantly responsible for the poor catalysis. Therefore, the synthesis of NC materials with more planar pyridinic and pyrrolic N atoms and fewer quaternary N atoms is important for the preparation of ORR-active catalysts. Herein, we present a novel strategy for the selective synthesis of pyridinicand pyrrolic-nitrogen-doped graphene (NG) by the use of layered montmorillonite (MMT) as a quasi-closed flat nanoreactor, which is open only along the perimeter to enable the entrance of aniline (AN) monomer molecules. The flat MMT nanoreactor, which is less than 1 nm thick, extensively constrains the formation of quaternary N because of its 3D structure but facilitates the formation of pyridinic and pyrrolic N. Nitrogen is well-known to be incorporated into quaternary N in tetrahedral sp hybridization but incorporated into pyridinic and pyrrolic N in planar sp hybridization. The confinement effect of MMT ensures that N is incorporated into the structure and that the graphitization is successful without significant loss of N species. Furthermore, planar pyridinic and pyrrolic N can be [*] Dr. W. Ding, Prof. Z.-D. Wei, Dr. S.-G. Chen, Dr. X.-Q. Qi, Dr. T. Yang, Dr. S. F. Alvi, Dr. L. Li The State Key Laboratory of Power Transmission Equipment and System Security and New Technology, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Chongqing University Shapingba 174, Chongqing (China) E-mail: zdwei@cqu.edu.cn

Fluorine-Doped Carbon Blacks: Highly Efficient Metal-Free Electrocatalysts for Oxygen Reduction Reaction

For the goal of practical industrial development of fuel cells, inexpensive, sustainable, and high performance electrocatalysts for oxygen reduction reactions (ORR) are highly desirable alternatives to platinum (Pt) and other rare materials. In this work, sustainable fluorine (F)-doped carbon blacks (CB-F) as metal-free, low-cost, and high-performance electrocatalysts for ORR were synthesized for the first time. The performance (electrocatalytic activity, long-term operation stability, and tolerance to poisons) of the best one (BP-18F, based on Black Pearls 2000 (BP)) is on the same level as Pt-based or other best non-Pt-based catalysts in alkaline medium. The maximum power density of alkaline direct methanol fuel cell with BP-18F as the cathode (3 mg/cm2) is ∼15.56 mW/cm2 at 60 °C, compared with a maximum of 9.44 mW/cm2 for commercial Pt/C (3 mgPt/cm2). All these results unambiguously demonstrate that these sustainable CB-F catalysts are the most promising alternatives to Pt in an alkaline fuel cell. Since sustainable carbon blacks are 10 000 times less expensive and much more abundant than Pt or other rare materials, these CB-F electrocatalysts possess the best price/performance ratio for ORR to date.

Porous nitrogen-doped carbon nanofibers as highly efficient metal-free electrocatalyst for oxygen reduction reaction

Three kinds of polymer blend of poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA)/polyacrylonitrile (PAN), polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP)/PAN and cellulose acetate (CA)/PAN were converted into nitrogen-doped carbon nanofibers (NCNFs) by electrospinning combined with acid oxidation and NH3 etching. The NCNFs showed excellent electrocatalytic performance for oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) in acid media, probably being attributed to the good hydrophilicity and wettability, porous fibrous structure, ultra thin diameter of less than 50nm, more exposed edge planes of pyrolytic graphitic carbons, and high proportion of pyridinic and quaternary nitrogen. The developed NCNFs show great potential as metal-free electrocatalyst for ORR in acid environment.

Graphyne As a Promising Metal-Free Electrocatalyst for Oxygen Reduction Reactions in Acidic Fuel Cells: A DFT Study

Graphyne, a new two-dimensional periodic carbon allotrope with a one-atom-thick sheet of carbon built from triple- and double-bonded units of two sp- and sp2-hybridized carbon atoms, has been shown in recent studies to have the potential for high-density hydrogen and lithium storage. We report here a density functional theory (DFT) study of an oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) involving graphyne and demonstrate that graphyne is a good, metal-free electrocatalyst for ORRs in acidic fuel cells. We optimized the geometrical structure, calculated the charge densities on each carbon atom in the graphyne, and simulated each step of the ORR reaction involving graphyne. The simulation results indicate that the distribution of the charge density at each carbon atom on the graphyne plane is not uniform and that a large number of positively charged carbon atoms, which are beneficial to the adsorption of O2 and OOH+ molecules, can behave as catalytic sites to facilitate ORRs. When H+ is introduced into the system, a series of reactions can occur including the formation of an O–C chemical bond between oxygen and graphyne, breakage of the O–O bond, and the creation of water molecules. The results also indicate a decrease in the energy of the system and a positive value of the reversible potential for each reaction step on the graphyne surface. In addition, a spontaneous electron transformation process occurs during the ORR along a four-electron pathway. The results presented here should lead to an improvement in the catalytic efficiency of carbon nanomaterials and provide a theoretical framework for the analysis of their catalytic activity. This paper highlights the urgent need for new experimental syntheses for graphyne.

BCN Graphene as Efficient Metal‐Free Electrocatalyst for the Oxygen Reduction Reaction

Abstract : The cathodic oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) is an important process in fuel cells and metal air batteries.[1 3] Although Pt-based electrocatalysts have been commonly used in commercial fuel cells owing to their relatively low overpotential and high current density, they still suffer from serious intermediate tolerance, anode crossover, sluggish kinetics, and poor stability in an electrochemical environment. This, together with the high cost of Pt and its limited nature reserves, has prompted the extensive search for alternative low-cost and high-performance ORR electrocatalysts. In this context, carbon-based metal-free ORR electrocatalysts have generated a great deal of interest owing to their low-cost, high electrocatalytic activity and selectivity, and excellent durability.[4 9] Of particular interest, we have previously prepared vertically aligned nitrogendoped carbon nanotubes (VA-NCNTs) as ORR electrocatalysts, which are free from anode crossover and CO poisoning and show a threefold higher catalytic activity and better durability than the commercial Pt/C catalyst.[4]