Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-t8hqh Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-30T07:43:48.707Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The effect of carbon support on the oxygen reduction activity and durability of single-atom iron catalysts

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 August 2018

Jin-Cheng Li Open the ORCID record for Jin-Cheng Li [Opens in a new window] ,
Dai-Ming Tang ,
Peng-Xiang Hou ,
Guo-Xian Li ,
Min Cheng ,
Chang Liu  and
Hui-Ming Cheng
Jin-Cheng Li
Affiliation:
Shenyang National Laboratory for Materials Science, Institute of Metal Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenyang 110016, PR China Fok Ying Tung Research Institute, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Guangzhou 511458, PR China
Dai-Ming Tang
Affiliation:
Shenyang National Laboratory for Materials Science, Institute of Metal Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenyang 110016, PR China
Peng-Xiang Hou*
Affiliation:
Shenyang National Laboratory for Materials Science, Institute of Metal Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenyang 110016, PR China
Guo-Xian Li
Affiliation:
Shenyang National Laboratory for Materials Science, Institute of Metal Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenyang 110016, PR China
Min Cheng
Affiliation:
Shenyang National Laboratory for Materials Science, Institute of Metal Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenyang 110016, PR China
Chang Liu*
Affiliation:
Shenyang National Laboratory for Materials Science, Institute of Metal Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenyang 110016, PR China
Hui-Ming Cheng
Affiliation:
Shenyang National Laboratory for Materials Science, Institute of Metal Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenyang 110016, PR China Tsinghua-Berkeley Shenzhen Institute, Tsinghua University, Shenzhen 5108055, PR China
*
Address all correspondence to Chang Liu and Peng-Xiang Hou at [email protected] and [email protected]
Address all correspondence to Chang Liu and Peng-Xiang Hou at [email protected] and [email protected]
Get access

Abstract

Owing to lack of a definitive correlation between carbon supports and catalytic activity of single-atom Fe-active sites, rational design and preparation of single-atom Fe catalysts have so far been elusive. Herein we designed and prepared one-dimensional core–shell nanostructured single-atom Fe catalysts, in which carbon nanofibers and carbon nanotubes with different crystallinities and electrical conductivities were used as supports to host single-atom Fe-active sites. It was found that the carbon supports with higher electrical conductivity accelerate charge transfer and enhance the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) activity of single-atom Fe-active sites as well as the ORR durability of the final catalyst.

Type
Research Letters
Information
MRS Communications , Volume 8 , Issue 3 , September 2018 , pp. 1158 - 1166
Check for updates
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 2018 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

1.Shao, M., Chang, Q., Dodelet, J.-P., and Chenitz, R.: Recent advances in electrocatalysts for oxygen reduction reaction. Chem. Rev. 116, 3594 (2016).Google Scholar
2.He, D., Tang, H., Kou, Z., Pan, M., Sun, X., Zhang, J., and Mu, S.: Engineered graphene materials: synthesis and applications for polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells. Adv. Mater. 29, 1601741 (2017).Google Scholar
3.Li, J.-C., Hou, P.-X., Zhang, L., Liu, C., and Cheng, H.-M.: Growth of metal-catalyst-free nitrogen-doped metallic single-wall carbon nanotubes. Nanoscale 6, 12065 (2014).Google Scholar
4.Li, J.-C., Hou, P.-X., Cheng, M., Liu, C., Cheng, H.-M., and Shao, M.: Carbon nanotube encapsulated in nitrogen and phosphorus co-doped carbon as a bifunctional electrocatalyst for oxygen reduction and evolution reactions. Carbon. N. Y. 139, 156 (2018).Google Scholar
5.Tang, C. and Zhang, Q.: Nanocarbon for oxygen reduction electrocatalysis: dopants, edges, and defects. Adv. Mater. 29, 1604103 (2017).Google Scholar
6.Wang, X., Zhang, H., Lin, H., Gupta, S., Wang, C., Tao, Z., Fu, H., Wang, T., Zheng, J., Wu, G., and Li, X.: Directly converting Fe-doped metal–organic frameworks into highly active and stable Fe-N-C catalysts for oxygen reduction in acid. Nano Energy 25, 110 (2016).Google Scholar
7.Ding, W., Li, L., Xiong, K., Wang, Y., Li, W., Nie, Y., Chen, S., Qi, X., and Wei, Z.: Shape fixing via salt recrystallization: a morphology-controlled approach to convert nanostructured polymer to carbon nanomaterial as a highly active catalyst for oxygen reduction reaction. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 137, 5414 (2015).Google Scholar
8.Tang, C., Titirici, M.-M., and Zhang, Q.: A review of nanocarbons in energy electrocatalysis: multifunctional substrates and highly active sites. J. Energy Chem. 26, 1077 (2017).Google Scholar
9.Jiang, W.-J., Gu, L., Li, L., Zhang, Y., Zhang, X., Zhang, L.-J., Wang, J.-Q., Hu, J.-S., Wei, Z., and Wan, L.-J.: Understanding the high activity of Fe–N–C electrocatalysts in oxygen reduction: Fe/Fe3C nanoparticles boost the activity of Fe–Nx. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 138, 3570 (2016).Google Scholar
10.Holby, E.F., Wu, G., Zelenay, P., and Taylor, C.D.: Structure of Fe–Nx–C defects in oxygen reduction reaction catalysts from first-principles modeling. J. Phys. Chem. C 118, 14388 (2014).Google Scholar
11.Li, J.-C., Hou, P.-X., Shi, C., Zhao, S.-Y., Tang, D.-M., Cheng, M., Liu, C., and Cheng, H.-M.: Hierarchically porous Fe-N-doped carbon nanotubes as efficient electrocatalyst for oxygen reduction. Carbon. N. Y. 109, 632 (2016).Google Scholar
12.Wu, G., More, K.L., Johnston, C.M., and Zelenay, P.: High-performance electrocatalysts for oxygen reduction derived from polyaniline, iron, and cobalt. Science 332, 443 (2011).Google Scholar
13.Wang, M.-Q., Yang, W.-H., Wang, H.-H., Chen, C., Zhou, Z.-Y., and Sun, S.-G.: Pyrolyzed Fe–N–C composite as an efficient non-precious metal catalyst for oxygen reduction reaction in acidic medium. ACS Catal. 4, 3928 (2014).Google Scholar
14.Strickland, K., Miner, E., Jia, Q., Tylus, U., Ramaswamy, N., Liang, W., Sougrati, M.-T., Jaouen, F., and Mukerjee, S.: Highly active oxygen reduction non-platinum group metal electrocatalyst without direct metal-nitrogen coordination. Nat. Commun. 6, 7343 (2015).Google Scholar
15.Zhang, H., Hwang, S., Wang, M., Feng, Z., Karakalos, S., Luo, L., Qiao, Z., Xie, X., Wang, C., Su, D., Shao, Y., and Wu, G.: Single atomic iron catalysts for oxygen reduction in acidic media: particle size control and thermal activation. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 139, 14143 (2017).Google Scholar
16.Zheng, Y., Jiao, Y., Zhu, Y., Cai, Q., Vasileff, A., Li, L.H., Han, Y., Chen, Y., and Qiao, S.-Z.: Molecule-level g-C3N4 coordinated transition metals as a new class of electrocatalysts for oxygen electrode reactions. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 139, 3336 (2017).Google Scholar
17.Zhu, Q.-L., Xia, W., Zheng, L.-R., Zou, R., Liu, Z., and Xu, Q.: Atomically dispersed Fe/N-doped hierarchical carbon architectures derived from a metal–organic framework composite for extremely efficient electrocatalysis. ACS Energy Lett. 2, 504 (2017).Google Scholar
18.Sa, Y.J., Seo, D.-J., Woo, J., Lim, J.T., Cheon, J.Y., Yang, S.Y., Lee, J.M., Kang, D., Shin, T.J., Shin, H.S., Jeong, H.Y., Kim, C.S., Kim, M.G., Kim, T.-Y., and Joo, S.H.: A general approach to preferential formation of active Fe–Nx sites in Fe–N/C electrocatalysts for efficient oxygen reduction reaction. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 138, 15046 (2016).Google Scholar
19.Chen, Y., Ji, S., Wang, Y., Dong, J., Chen, W., Li, Z., Shen, R., Zheng, L., Zhuang, Z., Wang, D., and Li, Y.: Isolated single iron atoms anchored on n-doped porous carbon as an efficient electrocatalyst for the oxygen reduction reaction. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 56, 6937 (2017).Google Scholar
20.Zhang, Z., Gao, X., Dou, M., Ji, J., and Wang, F.: Biomass derived N-doped porous carbon supported single fe atoms as superior electrocatalysts for oxygen reduction. Small 13, 1604290 (2017).Google Scholar
21.Li, J.-C., Yang, Z.-Q., Tang, D.-M., Zhang, L., Hou, P.-X., Zhao, S.-Y., Liu, C., Cheng, M., Li, G.-X., Zhang, F., and Cheng, H.-M.: N-doped carbon nanotubes containing a high concentration of single iron atoms for efficient oxygen reduction. NPG Asia Mater. 10, e461 (2018).Google Scholar
22.Zhu, C., Fu, S., Song, J., Shi, Q., Su, D., Engelhard, M.H., Li, X., Xiao, D., Li, D., Estevez, L., Du, D., and Lin, Y.: Self-assembled Fe–N-doped carbon nanotube aerogels with single-atom catalyst feature as high-efficiency oxygen reduction electrocatalysts. Small 13, 1603407 (2017).Google Scholar
23.Zhu, C., Fu, S., Shi, Q., Du, D., and Lin, Y.: Single-atom electrocatalysts. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 56, 13944 (2017).Google Scholar
24.Bayatsarmadi, B., Zheng, Y., Vasileff, A., and Qiao, S.-Z.: Recent advances in atomic metal doping of carbon-based nanomaterials for energy conversion. Small 13, 1700191 (2017).Google Scholar
25.Li, J.-C., Hou, P.-X., and Liu, C.: Heteroatom-doped carbon nanotube and graphene-based electrocatalysts for oxygen reduction reaction. Small 13, 1702002 (2017).Google Scholar
26.Li, J.-C., Zhao, S.-Y., Hou, P.-X., Fang, R.-P., Liu, C., Liang, J., Luan, J., Shan, X.-Y., and Cheng, H.-M.: A nitrogen-doped mesoporous carbon containing an embedded network of carbon nanotubes as a highly efficient catalyst for the oxygen reduction reaction. Nanoscale 7, 19201 (2015).Google Scholar
27.Parimi, N.S., Umasankar, Y., Atanassov, P., and Ramasamy, R.P.: Kinetic and mechanistic parameters of laccase catalyzed direct electrochemical oxygen reduction reaction. ACS Catal. 2, 38 (2012).Google Scholar
28.Jaouen, F. and Dodelet, J.-P.: Average turn-over frequency of O2 electro-reduction for Fe/N/C and Co/N/C catalysts in PEFCs. Electrochim. Acta 52, 5975 (2007).Google Scholar
29.Banham, D., Ye, S., Pei, K., Ozaki, J.-i, Kishimoto, T., and Imashiro, Y.: A review of the stability and durability of non-precious metal catalysts for the oxygen reduction reaction in proton exchange membrane fuel cells. J. Power Sources 285, 334 (2015).Google Scholar
30.Wu, G., More, K.L., Xu, P., Wang, H.-L., Ferrandon, M., Kropf, A.J., Myers, D.J., Ma, S., Johnston, C.M., and Zelenay, P.: A carbon-nanotube-supported graphene-rich non-precious metal oxygen reduction catalyst with enhanced performance durability. Chem. Commun. 49, 3291 (2013).Google Scholar
Supplementary material: File

Li et al. supplementary material

Li et al. supplementary material 1

Download Li et al. supplementary material(File)
File 1.4 MB