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Self-templated formation of cobalt-embedded hollow N-doped carbon spheres for efficient oxygen reduction

Authors :
Fenglei Lyu
Qiao Zhang
Yadong Yin
Jianian Chen
Jinxing Chen
Ayaz Mahsud
Qixuan Zhong
Xiaolei Yuan
Source :
Nano Research. 14:2819-2825
Publication Year :
2021
Publisher :
Springer Science and Business Media LLC, 2021.

Abstract

The slow kinetics at the cathode of oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) seriously limits the efficiencies of fuel cells and metal-air batteries. Pt, the state-of-the-art ORR electrocatalyst, suffers from high cost, low earth abundance, and poor stability. Here a self-templated strategy based on metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) is proposed for the fabrication of hollow nitrogen-doped carbon spheres that are embedded with cobalt nanoparticles (Co/HNC). The Co/HNC manifests better ORR activities, methanol tolerance, and stability than commercial Pt/C. The high ORR performance of Co/NHC can be attributed to the hollow structure which provides enlarged electrochemically active surface area, the formation of more Co-N species, and the introduction of defects. This work highlights the significance of rational engineering of MOFs for enhanced ORR activity and stability and offers new routes to the design and synthesis of high-performance electrocatalysts.

Details

ISSN :
19980000 and 19980124
Volume :
14
Database :
OpenAIRE
Journal :
Nano Research
Accession number :
edsair.doi...........cc504fd8fe5c058d3093e7c961b0c902