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Killing Two Birds with One Stone: A Highly Active Tubular Carbon Catalyst with Effective N Doping for Oxygen Reduction and Hydrogen Evolution Reactions.
- Source :
-
Catalysis Letters . Feb2019, Vol. 149 Issue 2, p486-495. 10p. - Publication Year :
- 2019
-
Abstract
- Abstract: The oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) and hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) are two of the core reactions that occur in fuel cells and water electrolysis devices. Heteroatom-doped carbon materials are promising metal-free electrocatalysts to improve the conversion efficiency of these devices. To optimize the nanostructures of such carbon-based catalysts, herein, we reported an effective template method to synthesize N doped carbon nanotubes by using polydopamine as a precursor. The use of the ZnO nanowire not only serves as a self-sacrificial template to direct the formation of the nanotube, but also greatly extends the porosity of the carbon nanotube. Moreover, the polydopamine precursor also leads to effective N doping. An optimized sample, NCNT-900, shows high ORR performance comparable with that of Pt/C as well as good HER performance in both alkaline and acid media, making it one of the most effective carbon-based HER catalysts. This strategy offers an opportunity to synthesize catalysts with higher activity by rational design of a carbon precursor with higher N content or multi-heteroatom co-doping.Graphical Abstract: Nitrogen doped carbon nanotube with high performance for both ORR and HER was synthesized using ZnO nanowires as template. The obtained materials show effective N doping that provides abundant active sites, high surface area and unique textural parameters that can effectively enhance mass transfer. When used for electrocatalysts, NCNT-900 shows high ORR performance comparable with that of Pt/C and good HER performance in both alkaline and acid media. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Subjects :
- *CATALYSTS
*HYDROGEN
*CARBON nanotubes
*CATALYSIS
*NONMETALS
Subjects
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 1011372X
- Volume :
- 149
- Issue :
- 2
- Database :
- Academic Search Index
- Journal :
- Catalysis Letters
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- 134584652
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.1007/s10562-018-2636-5