Issue 14, 2018

Tuning the dimensions and structures of nitrogen-doped carbon nanomaterials derived from sacrificial g-C3N4/metal–organic frameworks for enhanced electrocatalytic oxygen reduction

Abstract

Here we demonstrate a facile strategy for tuning the dimensions and structures of nitrogen-doped carbon nanomaterials via regulating the ratio of Co/Zn in zeolitic imidazolate framework (ZIF) arrays in situ grown on g-C3N4 nanosheets, followed by a pyrolysis process. One-dimensional nitrogen-doped bamboo-like carbon nanotube encapsulated Co nanoparticle (Co/N-BCNTs), two-dimensional nitrogen-doped carbon nanosheet (N-CNS) and three-dimensional nitrogen-doped carbon nanotube framework encapsulated Co nanoparticle (Co/N-CNTFs) electrocatalysts are successfully fabricated from Zn/Co-ZIF@g-C3N4, ZIF-8@g-C3N4 (Co free) and ZIF-67@g-C3N4 (Zn free), respectively. The resulting Co/N-BCNTs electrocatalyst exhibits a better oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) activity than the other two catalysts, with a half-wave potential of 0.83 V (versus the reversible hydrogen electrode) in alkaline solutions, which is superior to that of a commercial Pt/C catalyst. More importantly, the Co/N-BCNTs show much higher stability and better methanol-tolerance than the Pt/C catalyst in a 0.1 M KOH solution. It has been demonstrated that the enhanced catalytic performance of Co/N-BCNTs is attributed to their suitable surface area, well-dispersed N dopants, and Co encapsulated inside carbon nanotubes. The presented strategy offers new prospects in developing highly active electrocatalysts.

Graphical abstract: Tuning the dimensions and structures of nitrogen-doped carbon nanomaterials derived from sacrificial g-C3N4/metal–organic frameworks for enhanced electrocatalytic oxygen reduction

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
14 Jan 2018
Accepted
23 Feb 2018
First published
24 Feb 2018

J. Mater. Chem. A, 2018,6, 5752-5761

Tuning the dimensions and structures of nitrogen-doped carbon nanomaterials derived from sacrificial g-C3N4/metal–organic frameworks for enhanced electrocatalytic oxygen reduction

R. Wang, T. Yan, L. Han, G. Chen, H. Li, J. Zhang, L. Shi and D. Zhang, J. Mater. Chem. A, 2018, 6, 5752 DOI: 10.1039/C8TA00439K

To request permission to reproduce material from this article, please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

If you are an author contributing to an RSC publication, you do not need to request permission provided correct acknowledgement is given.

If you are the author of this article, you do not need to request permission to reproduce figures and diagrams provided correct acknowledgement is given. If you want to reproduce the whole article in a third-party publication (excluding your thesis/dissertation for which permission is not required) please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements