Issue 90, 2015

Spinel nickel ferrite nanoparticles strongly cross-linked with multiwalled carbon nanotubes as a bi-efficient electrocatalyst for oxygen reduction and oxygen evolution

Abstract

It is of great concern to explore new electrocatalysts for the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) and oxygen evolution reaction (OER). In this study, spinel NiFe2O4 nanoparticles cross-linked with the outer walls of multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) were successfully prepared by a simple, scalable hydrothermal method. The as-synthesized NiFe2O4/MWCNT nanohybrid shows not only a better ORR catalytic activity than pure NiFe2O4 and MWCNTs, but also a close four-electron reaction pathway. Meanwhile, the NiFe2O4/MWCNT nanohybrid exhibits a much higher OER catalytic activity when compared to NiFe2O4, MWCNTs and commercial Pt/C in terms of the onset potential and current density. Moreover, the NiFe2O4/MWCNT nanohybrid demonstrates the preeminent long-term durability measured by the current–time chronoamperometric test for both the ORR and OER, which evidently outperforms commercial Pt/C. The excellent bi-functional electrocatalytic activities of the NiFe2O4/MWCNT nanohybrid are attributed to the strong coupling between the NiFe2O4 nanoparticles and the MWCNTs as well as the network structure.

Graphical abstract: Spinel nickel ferrite nanoparticles strongly cross-linked with multiwalled carbon nanotubes as a bi-efficient electrocatalyst for oxygen reduction and oxygen evolution

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
24 Jul 2015
Accepted
20 Aug 2015
First published
20 Aug 2015

RSC Adv., 2015,5, 73834-73841

Spinel nickel ferrite nanoparticles strongly cross-linked with multiwalled carbon nanotubes as a bi-efficient electrocatalyst for oxygen reduction and oxygen evolution

P. Li, R. Ma, Y. Zhou, Y. Chen, Q. Liu, G. Peng, Z. Liang and J. Wang, RSC Adv., 2015, 5, 73834 DOI: 10.1039/C5RA14713A

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