Assembly of hollow mesoporous nanoarchitectures composed of ultrafine Mo2C nanoparticles on N-doped carbon nanosheets for efficient electrocatalytic reduction of oxygen

Yanna Guo; Jing Tang; Joel Henzie; Bo Jiang; Huayu Qian; Zhongli Wang; Haibo Tan; Yoshio Bando; Yusuke Yamauchi

doi:10.1039/C7MH00586E

Assembly of hollow mesoporous nanoarchitectures composed of ultrafine Mo₂C nanoparticles on N-doped carbon nanosheets for efficient electrocatalytic reduction of oxygen†

Yanna Guo,^ab Jing Tang,*^a Joel Henzie,

^a Bo Jiang,^a Huayu Qian,^c Zhongli Wang,^a Haibo Tan,^ab Yoshio Bando^a and Yusuke Yamauchi

*^abde

Author affiliations

* Corresponding authors

^a International Center for Materials Nanoarchitectonics (MANA), National Institute for Materials Science (NIMS), 1-1 Namiki, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-0044, Japan
E-mail: TANG.Jing@nims.go.jp

^b Faculty of Science and Engineering, Waseda University, 3-4-1 Okubo, Shinjuku, Tokyo 169-8555, Japan

^c Key Laboratory for Soft Chemistry and Functional Materials of Ministry Education, Nanjing University of Science and Technology, Nanjing, China

^d Australian Institute for Innovative Materials (AIIM), University of Wollongong, North Wollongong, Australia
E-mail: yusuke@uow.edu.au

^e School of Chemical Engineering & Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology (AIBN), The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia

Abstract

A simple method is developed to assemble Mo₂C nanocrystals on the surfaces of hollow, highly conductive mesoporous nanoparticles. Diblock copolymer (PS-b-PEO) micelles are used as templates to assist in the fast complexation of molybdate (MoO₄²⁻) and polydopamine (PDA) precursors to make hollow precursor MoO₄²⁻/PDA/PS-b-PEO particles. Then these particles are carbonized to generate mesoporous N-doped carbon nanosheets riddled with ultrafine molybdenum carbide (Mo₂C) nanoparticles (MMo₂C/NCS). An N-doped carbon matrix serves as an electron conductor and helps to prevent the aggregation of the Mo₂C nanoparticles. The Mo₂C nanoparticles in turn enhance the catalytic performance for the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR). The unique mesoporous 2D nanosheet and its derived 3D hollow structure expose numerous active catalytic sites while enabling free diffusion of the electrolyte and mass transfer. Based on these properties, MMo₂C/NCS show enhanced catalytic activity for the ORR.

This article is part of the themed collections: Horizons Community Board Collection – Emerging 2D Materials for Energy and Electronics Applications and 7th EuCheMS Chemistry Congress – Molecular frontiers and global challenges

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Article information

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1039/C7MH00586E
Article type: Communication
Submitted: 28 Upu 2017
Accepted: 25 Leo 2017
First published: 09 Mph 2017

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Mater. Horiz., 2017,4, 1171-1177

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Assembly of hollow mesoporous nanoarchitectures composed of ultrafine Mo₂C nanoparticles on N-doped carbon nanosheets for efficient electrocatalytic reduction of oxygen

Y. Guo, J. Tang, J. Henzie, B. Jiang, H. Qian, Z. Wang, H. Tan, Y. Bando and Y. Yamauchi, Mater. Horiz., 2017, 4, 1171 DOI: 10.1039/C7MH00586E

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