Issue 28, 2020

Highly active Fe–N-doped porous hollow carbon nanospheres as oxygen reduction electrocatalysts in both acidic and alkaline media

Abstract

Hierarchical iron–nitrogen-codoped porous hollow carbon spheres have been synthesized by using melamine–formaldehyde (MF) resin spheres as templates, nitrogen sources and pore-forming agents. FeCl3, 1,10-phenanthroline and carbon black were used as iron, nitrogen and carbon sources. The as-obtained porous hollow carbon spheres possess a high specific surface area of 807 m2 g−1, as well as exhibited excellent electrocatalytic activity for the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) in both acidic and alkaline media. In 0.1 M HClO4 solution, the onset potential was 0.857 V (vs. RHE) and the half-wave potential was 0.715 V, which are only 78 and 80 mV less than those of the 20% Pt/C catalyst, respectively. In addition, in 0.1 M KOH solution, the onset potential was 1.017 V and the half-wave potential was 0.871 V for the ORR, which are 22 and 28 mV more positive than those of the Pt/C catalyst, respectively. Meanwhile, the catalyst also exhibited excellent methanol tolerance and long-term durability with a more effective four-electron pathway compared to the 20% Pt/C catalyst in both acidic and alkaline media. When used as an air-cathode catalyst for a Zn–air battery, the maximum power density of a Zn–air battery with the MF-C-Fe-Phen-800 cathode was 235 mW cm−2 at a high current density of 371 mA cm−2, and a high open-circuit potential of 1.654 V, superior to that of Pt/C (199 mW cm−2, 300 mA cm−2, 1.457 V). A series of designed experiments suggested that the remarkable performance was attributed to the high specific area, hollow carbon spheres, unique hierarchical micro-mesoporous structures, high contents of pyridinic-N and graphitic-N. The superiority of the as-prepared catalyst makes it promising for use in practical applications.

Graphical abstract: Highly active Fe–N-doped porous hollow carbon nanospheres as oxygen reduction electrocatalysts in both acidic and alkaline media

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
08 Apr 2020
Accepted
12 Jun 2020
First published
15 Jun 2020

Nanoscale, 2020,12, 15115-15127

Highly active Fe–N-doped porous hollow carbon nanospheres as oxygen reduction electrocatalysts in both acidic and alkaline media

M. Hao, R. Dun, Y. Su and W. Li, Nanoscale, 2020, 12, 15115 DOI: 10.1039/D0NR02763D

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