Issue 15, 2024

Rational bottom-up synthesis of sulphur-rich porous carbons for single-atomic platinum catalyst supports

Abstract

Single-atomic metal catalysts are attractive for green chemistry in terms of their outstanding catalytic performance and savings in precious metal usage owing to maximized metal utilization, including anode catalysts in polymer electrolyte fuel cells (PEFCs). Heteroatom-doped porous carbons are extensively used as supports, where the heteroatoms contribute to the immobilization of single-atomic metals. However, high-content doping of heteroatoms, especially sulphur (S), into carbon supports is still challenging because S species can be readily desorbed during heat treatment. Herein, we present a bottom-up fabrication approach for S-rich porous carbons from molecular precursors via a thermal polymerization process. A simple carbonization of molecules with thermally stable S-containing building blocks and polymerizable ethynyl moieties at 900 °C yields microporous carbon materials with record-high S content (over 15 wt%). The abundant S species function as an effective anchoring site for single-atomic platinum (Pt) species. Toward anode catalysts in PEFCs, the prepared single-atomic Pt catalysts efficiently promote the electrochemical hydrogen oxidation reaction, whose activity is comparable to that of commercial Pt/C, despite the significantly low Pt loading amount.

Graphical abstract: Rational bottom-up synthesis of sulphur-rich porous carbons for single-atomic platinum catalyst supports

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
26 Apr 2024
Accepted
27 Jun 2024
First published
09 Jul 2024
This article is Open Access
Creative Commons BY license

Green Chem., 2024,26, 8758-8767

Rational bottom-up synthesis of sulphur-rich porous carbons for single-atomic platinum catalyst supports

K. Chida, T. Yoshii, R. Kawaguchi, M. Inoue, F. Tani, T. Sobue, S. Ohtani, K. Kato, T. Ogoshi, S. Nakahata, K. Kamiya and H. Nishihara, Green Chem., 2024, 26, 8758 DOI: 10.1039/D4GC02055C

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