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Ultra-fast pyrolysis of ferrocene to form Fe/C heterostructures as robust oxygen evolution electrocatalysts.
- Source :
- Journal of Materials Chemistry A; 11/21/2018, Vol. 6 Issue 43, p21577-21584, 8p
- Publication Year :
- 2018
-
Abstract
- As potential catalytic materials for the oxygen evolution reaction, abundant and eco-friendly iron-based materials are often limited by inferior electrical conductivity. Herein, we propose a cost-effective and facile strategy to prepare a Fe/C heterostructured composite (Fe/Fe<subscript>3</subscript>C–F@CNT) via ultra-fast pyrolysis of ferrocene based on the induction and microwave thermal effect of multiwalled carbon nanotubes (CNTs). Fe/Fe<subscript>3</subscript>C–F@CNT exhibits a novel heterostructure where carbon-encapsulated Fe/Fe<subscript>3</subscript>C nanoparticles are uniformly distributed on the surface of CNTs and small iron-based nano-clusters exist on the surface of carbon layer, thus improving the electrical conductivity and dispersion of active sites. Fe/Fe<subscript>3</subscript>C–F@CNT shows superior OER catalytic performance, which is better than that of many Co- and Ni-based catalysts and even superior to that of RuO<subscript>2</subscript>. Furthermore, the catalytic performance further improved by loading Fe/Fe<subscript>3</subscript>C–F@CNT on the commercial foam iron. The resultant composite required a low overpotential (286 mV) to reach the current density of 10 mA cm<superscript>−2</superscript>. The durable catalytic stability, exhibiting no significant degradation at 100 mA cm<superscript>−2</superscript> after 320 h, makes Fe/Fe<subscript>3</subscript>C–F@CNT a promising efficient, low-cost and environmentally-friendly OER catalyst for application in water electrolysis and metal–air batteries. More importantly, this study greatly shortens the preparation time required to fabricate uniform Fe/C heterostructures. This study brings a new inspiration for fabricating various materials for application as green energy sources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 20507488
- Volume :
- 6
- Issue :
- 43
- Database :
- Complementary Index
- Journal :
- Journal of Materials Chemistry A
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- 132863219
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.1039/c8ta05733h