1. Boron–nitrogen-doped carbon dots on multi-walled carbon nanotubes for efficient electrocatalysis of oxygen reduction reactions.
- Author
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Pei, Yanfei, Song, Haoqiang, Liu, Yuan, Cheng, Yaojia, Li, Weidong, Chen, Yumei, Fan, Yanping, Liu, Baozhong, and Lu, Siyu
- Subjects
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OXYGEN reduction , *ELECTROCATALYSIS , *MULTIWALLED carbon nanotubes , *METAL-air batteries , *CARBON nanotubes , *STANDARD hydrogen electrode , *CHARGE exchange - Abstract
A multi-walled carbon nanotubes supported carbon dots co-doped with boron and nitrogen as high-efficiency oxygen reduction catalysts was synthesized through hydrothermal reaction and calcination. Pyridine N and BC 3 act with synergy to significantly enhance catalytic activity. The B atom of BCO 2 can be appropriately combined with O intermediates such as OH or H 2 O to promote adsorption on the catalyst. [Display omitted] Cost-effective production of metal-free catalysts for the oxygen-reduction reaction (ORR), to supersede Pt-based catalysts, is challenging. Here, a three-dimensional nanocatalyst was prepared by compounding multi-wall carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) with easily modified and doped carbon dots (CDs) as sources of B and N. The catalyst has high conductivity and a large specific surface area similar to the MWCNTs, allowing exposure of many CDs with rich edge active sites and enhancing electron transfer. The catalyst exhibits excellent ORR performance, with 0.92 V of E onset vs reversible hydrogen electrode (RHE). The E 1/2 value exhibits a reduction of 50 mV compared with that of Pt/C (0.85 V) with a limited current density of 5.95 mA cm−2. The enhanced catalytic performance is attributed to the synergy of pyridine N and BC 3. This work describes a simple and economical strategy for metal-free catalysts, and promotes the development of such catalysts for metal-air batteries and fuel cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2021
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