Supramolecular gel assisted synthesis of Co2P nanosheets as an efficient and stable catalyst for oxygen reduction reaction†
Abstract
Developing inexpensive, active and durable nanomaterials for the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) plays an important role in fuel cell research. In this work, a carbon supported dicobalt phosphide (Co2P) nanosheet (Co2P/C) electrocatalyst is prepared using a simple and low cost supramolecular gel assisted strategy. The nanomaterial obtained with a nanosheet morphology presents excellent electrocatalytic performance for ORR with comparable onset- and half-wave potential to a platinum/carbon (Pt/C) catalyst, indicating the significant role of Co2P for enhancing the electrocatalytic performance for ORR in an alkaline medium. Furthermore, the obtained catalyst exhibits outstanding long-term durability, methanol tolerance and a four electron pathway for ORR. The progress in this work will be scalable for the development of a non-precious metal electrocatalyst with a nanosheet structure for fuel cell applications.