Issue 12, 2014

Metal-free doped carbon materials as electrocatalysts for the oxygen reduction reaction

Abstract

Carbon materials such as graphite, graphene, carbon nanotubes and ordered mesoporous carbon have attracted a lot of attention for their use in fuel cells, due to beneficial properties like high conductivity, high mechanical and chemical stability and, for the latter, high surface area. Doping these materials with nitrogen or, less commonly, other elements alters their (electronic) properties, making them particularly suitable for application as electrocatalysts for the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) in a fuel cell. This paper reviews the synthesis methods employed for the doping of these different types of carbon materials with various elements and the characterization techniques used to investigate their physicochemical properties such as degree of graphitization, dopant content, dopant configuration and surface area. Furthermore, their application as electrocatalysts for the oxygen reduction in a fuel cell is reviewed. Finally, the possible mechanisms for the ORR on N-doped carbon materials are critically discussed and compared to the mechanisms of commercial Pt/C electrocatalysts.

Graphical abstract: Metal-free doped carbon materials as electrocatalysts for the oxygen reduction reaction

Article information

Article type
Feature Article
Submitted
08 10 2013
Accepted
06 11 2013
First published
06 11 2013

J. Mater. Chem. A, 2014,2, 4085-4110

Metal-free doped carbon materials as electrocatalysts for the oxygen reduction reaction

N. Daems, X. Sheng, I. F. J. Vankelecom and P. P. Pescarmona, J. Mater. Chem. A, 2014, 2, 4085 DOI: 10.1039/C3TA14043A

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