Metal-Free Ketjenblack Incorporated Nitrogen-Doped Carbon Sheets Derived from Gelatin as Oxygen Reduction Catalysts
- 20 March 2014
- journal article
- research article
- Published by American Chemical Society (ACS) in Nano Letters
- Vol. 14 (4), 1870-1876
- https://doi.org/10.1021/nl404640n
Abstract
Electrocatalysts facilitating oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) are vital components in advanced fuel cells and metal-air batteries. Here we report Ketjenblack incorporated nitrogen-doped carbon sheets derived from gelatin and apply these easily scalable materials as metal-free electrocatalysts for ORR. These carbon nanosheets demonstrate highly comparable catalytic activity for ORR as well as better durability than commercial Vulcan carbon supported Pt catalysts in alkaline media. Physico-chemical characterization and theoretical calculations suggest that proper combination of graphitic and pyridinic nitrogen species with more exposed edge sites effectively facilitates a formation of superoxide, [O2(ad)]−, via one-electron transfer, thus increasing catalytic activities for ORR. Our results demonstrate a novel strategy to expose more nitrogen doped edge sites by irregular stacked small sheets in developing better electrocatalysts for Zn-air batteries. These desirable architectures are embodied by an amphiphlilic gelatin mediated compatible synthetic strategy between hydrophobic carbon and aqueous water.This publication has 54 references indexed in Scilit:
- Tuning Nanoparticle Catalysis for the Oxygen Reduction ReactionAngewandte Chemie, 2013
- Advanced zinc-air batteries based on high-performance hybrid electrocatalystsNature Communications, 2013
- Electrocatalyst approaches and challenges for automotive fuel cellsNature, 2012
- Covalent Hybrid of Spinel Manganese–Cobalt Oxide and Graphene as Advanced Oxygen Reduction ElectrocatalystsJournal of the American Chemical Society, 2012
- Metal–air batteries: from oxygen reduction electrochemistry to cathode catalystsChemical Society Reviews, 2012
- Metal–Air Batteries with High Energy Density: Li–Air versus Zn–AirAdvanced Energy Materials, 2010
- A review on air cathodes for zinc–air fuel cellsJournal of Power Sources, 2010
- Investigation of oxygen reduction on activated carbon electrodes in alkaline solutionCarbon, 2007
- Oxygen electroreduction on Ag(111): The pH effectElectrochimica Acta, 2007
- Kinetic studies of the oxygen—peroxide couple on pyrolytic graphiteElectrochimica Acta, 1970