Surface-confined Pt-based catalysts for strengthening oxygen reduction performance

Developing highly efficient catalysts for the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) is a key to the fabrication of commercially viable fuel cell devices for future energy applications. Considerable progress has been made to reduce Pt usage and improve performance of the Pt catalysts by modulating exposed facets of Pt nanocrystals and combining Pt with other metals to generate bimetallic nanocrystals with structures in the form of alloys, core-shells, branches or anisotropies. Apart from the above methods, confining Pt-based nanoparticles (NPs) surfaces with elaborately selected layers such as polymers, silicon or carbons can also lead to an optimized Pt electronic structure, which is beneficial to ORR process. In this minireview, we summarize the recent advancements in the area of surface-confined Pt-based electrocatalysts for ORR with emphasis on introducing the design strategies and synthesis methodologies. The integration of these catalysts into ORR operations and the resulting performance as well as the strengthening mechanisms is also discussed. Meanwhile, the insights into the research directions are proposed in order to shed light on the future development of surface-confined Pt-based ORR catalysts.     

煤基活性炭制备及其电催化应用研究进展

煤炭是世界上储量最为丰富的化石燃料之一,是制造多孔碳、纳米碳、碳质复合材料和石墨烯的主要原料。燃料电池是一种通过化学反应将化学燃料直接转化为电能的装置,它不受卡诺循环限制,具有高效率、高功率密度和环境友好等特点,有着巨大的应用前景。但其阴极氧还原反应(cathodic oxygen reduction reaction, ORR)动力学非常缓慢,需要在催化剂的作用下加速其反应。现有的催化剂主要是贵金属Pt,但Pt资源储量少、成本高、稳定性差,限制了燃料电池的商业化应用。近年来的研究表明,碳基材料是最有希望替代Pt的催化剂材料。基于此,对近年来煤基多孔碳的制备方法进行了综述,并在此基础上阐述了以煤基活性炭为基体的燃料电池用氧还原电催化剂的研究进展。     

Applications of M/N/C analogue catalysts in PEM fuel cells and metal-air/oxygen batteries: Status quo,challenges and perspectives

To meet the sharp increase in demand for clean and renewable energy, it is necessary to develop new energy-conversion and storage technologies, such as proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) and metal-air/oxygen batteries (MABs). Due to the sluggish reaction kinetics of the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) and the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) in the cathodes of PEMFCs and MABs, significant amounts of precious metal catalysts need to be used, driving up the cost of fuel cells and MABs and thereby hindering their commercialization on a large scale. Transition metal and nitrogen co-doped carbonaceous catalysts (M/N/C) have high catalytic activity towards the ORR and OER once the catalysts are modified with certain promoters/additives. In addition, M/N/C catalysts can be prepared from abundant, inexpensive materials, making their cost negligible compared with precious metal catalysts, a development that would efficiently decrease the cost of PEMFCs and MABs. In last decade, numerous researchers have attempted to realize these applications of M/N/C catalysts, and some exciting results have been achieved, making these promising replacements for precious metal catalysts. However, some serious problems and significant challenges remain. In this paper, we review the research on the application of M/N/C analogue catalysts in PEMFCs and MABs in the last 10 years, indicate the remaining challenges, and suggest the future research directions.     

A novel bimetallic RuFe nanocluster to enable highly efficient oxygen reduction in zinc-air batteries

Zinc-air batteries (ZABs) have the advantages of high energy density and safety but their large-scale application is hindered by sluggish kinetics of four-electron aqueous O₂ redox reactions. Widely used Ruthenium (Ru)-based catalysts possess intrinsic oxygen evolution catalytic activity but suffer from insufficient oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) performance. Herein, to optimize the ORR activity of Ru-based catalyst, an iron (Fe)-coordinated, bimetallic RuFe cluster is constructed and homogeneously dispersed within nitrogen (N)-doped carbon layers (denoted as RuFe@NC). Benefitting from the optimized ORR activity and more active site exposure, the RuFe@NC exhibits superior ORR activity with a half wave potential (E_1/2) of 0.88 ?V higher than that of Pt/C (0.82 ?V). Accordingly, the RuFe@NC-based ZAB outperforms the Pt/C ?+ ?IrO₂-based device, presenting a reduced polarization of 0.7 ?V and an enhanced cycling lifetime of 50 ?h at 10 ?mA ?cm^?2. Moreover, the optimized structural design ultralow Ru loading (0.013 mg_Ru cm^?2) overcomes the cost barriers and demonstrates its high practicality. This bimetallic RuFe nanocluster opens a new way for future design of more efficient and stable catalytic systems.     

ZIF-derived Co–N–C ORR catalyst with high performance in proton exchange membrane fuel cells

Metal and nitrogen-doped carbon (M-N-C) materials have been considered as the most promising non-precious metal oxygen reduction (ORR) catalysts to replace expensive Pt catalysts. Due to high Fenton catalytic activity of Fe element and the resulting instability, Co-based N–C (Co–N–C) catalysts without Fenton catalytic activity should be a worthier ORR catalyst being explored. Although the high ORR activity of Co–N–C catalyst has been demonstrated in aqueous half-cell tests, their performance under PEMFC working condition is still far away from that of state-of-the-art Fe–N–C catalysts. In this study, a high-performance Co–N–C catalyst was synthesized by one-step pyrolyzing Co-doped ZIF-8 (zeolitic imidazolate framework-8) particles in-situ grown on the high-surface-area KJ600 carbon black with high electronic conductivity. The resulting Co–N–C catalyst exhibited high intrinsic ORR activity, fast mass transfer rate and high electronic conductivity, and thus yielded a remarkable peak power density of 0.92 W cm^-2 in H₂–O₂ PEMFC, which is comparable to state-of-the-art Fe–N–C catalyst. This strategy is helpful to synthesize highly active M-N-C ORR catalysts with improved mass transfer and electric conductivity.     

Pyrolysis of Iron(III) porphyrin coated Pt/C toward oxygen reduction reaction in acidic medium

Design and synthesis of highly active and durable electrocatalysts toward oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) is of particular importance for proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs), yet remains a grand challenge. Herein, we report the deposition of iron (III) porphyrin (FeP) on house-made Pt/C by rotary evaporation of the mixture of FeP and house-made Pt/C dispersed in chloroform, followed by pyrolysis at 650 °C in argon atmosphere. This approach led to the synthesis of new non-precious metal electrocatalyst (NPME)-Pt/C composites (Pt/C–FeP) with an average nanoparticle diameter of 3.1 ± 1.5 nm without aggregation. According to X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), the binding energy of Pt 4f_7/2 became larger due to the presence of pyrolyzed FeP. In addition, the electrochemically active surface area (ECSA) of Pt/C–FeP-650 is 65 m²/g less than that of house-made Pt/C (80.2 m²/g). This implies that the pyrolyzed FeP may have partially covered the surface of Pt nanoparticles and thus lowering the ECSA. Interestingly, the mass activity (MA) of Pt/C–FeP turns out to be 349.0 mA/mg_Pt @0.9 V vs. RHE, which is 2.6 times and 1.5 times of house-made Pt/C and commercial Pt/C, respectively. It is speculated that the electronic interaction and possible synergy between Pt and pyrolyzed FeP as NPME might have contributed to the ORR activity improvement despite of partial loss of ECSA. During accelerated durability tests (ADTs), the MA of Pt/C–FeP-650 degrades 64.3% inferior to commercial Pt/C (52.2%). The main reason likely arises from the degradation of pyrolyzed FeP, which is a bottleneck problem confronting NPMEs.     

基于3d过渡金属的氧电极材料研究进展

氧还原催化剂及缓慢的阴极氧还原动力学是制约低温燃料电池商业化的关键瓶颈因素之一.非贵金属氧还原催化剂是近年来低温燃料电池最受关注的研究热点之一.在简要介绍燃料电池及氧还原反应机理的基础上,详细地综述了近年来低温燃料电池用3d过渡金属基氧还原催化剂的主要研究进展,包括过渡金属大环化合物、过渡金属-氮/碳类化合物、过渡金属硫族化合物和过渡金属氧化物,总结了提高催化活性和稳定性、降低催化剂制备成本以及催化剂制备工艺等方面所取得的研究结果,并指出了各类催化剂目前尚待解决的问题和发展方向.     

Nickel-introduced structurally ordered PtCuNi/C as high performance electrocatalyst for oxygen reduction reaction

Designing highly active and durable oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) electrocatalysts is essential for developing efficient proton-exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs). In this work, ordered PtCuNi/C nanoparticles (NPs) were synthesized using an impregnation reduction method. This study shows that the incorporation of Ni in ordered PtCu/C can effectively adjust the electronic structure of Pt, thereby optimizing oxygen binding energy for the ORR. The obtained intermetallic ordered PtCuNi/C NPs significantly improved ORR activity and durability compared to ordered PtCu/C. Specifically, PtCu_0·5Ni_0·5/C-700 shows a mass activity of 1.29 ​A ​mg _Pt⁻¹ ​at 0.9 ​V vs. reversible hydrogen electrode (RHE), which is about 9.2 times higher than that of commercial Pt/C. PtCu_0.5Ni_0.5/C-700 is also shown to be competent cathode catalyst for a single-cell system exhibiting high power density (461 ​mW ​cm⁻²). This work demonstrates that ordered PtCu_0·5Ni_0·5/C-700 can be used as a highly active and durable ORR catalyst in PEMFCs.     

Surface modifications of Pt-based atomically ordered nanoparticles to improve catalytic performances for oxygen reduction reaction

Bimetallic platinum-cobalt (Pt–Co) nanostructure catalysts represent superior catalytic performances for oxygen reduction reaction (ORR). In a variety of Pt–Co catalyst structures, atomically ordered structure catalysts show excellent catalytic performances in the ORR. In this work, for promoting their catalytic performances, atomically ordered PtCo nanoparticles (PtCo/C) with carbon supported were successfully prepared by an improved impregnation method and annealing. Then, the ordered PtCo/C catalysts have been significantly improved by doped with ultralow amount of Au and Cr transition metal. The physical and electrochemical test results demonstrate the Cr–PtCo/C and Au–PtCo/C catalysts have superior catalytic performances including mass activity and stability compared to commercialized Johnson Matthey (JM) Pt/C, which was the result of the modified electronic properties of Pt surface and atomically ordered structure. The presence of Au and Cr enhances the stability of PtCo/C catalysts. This work represents a simple way to promote the catalytic performances of the atomically ordered catalysts.     

提升Pd基电催化剂氧还原活性的策略

氧还原反应(ORR)是许多电化学相关技术的核心反应,许多研究致力于制备同时具备高活性、高稳定性和低成本的催化剂。Pd基纳米材料由于其相对较优的催化性能和相对丰富的储量,有望成为Pt的替代品,受到了广泛关注,但要达到商品化程度,其性能需进一步提高。本文以Pd基催化剂应用于ORR电催化为背景,综述了近年来Pd基催化剂ORR的性能提升策略。围绕载体调控、形貌结构调控以及组分调控共3个部分进行总结,这些调控会利用配体效应、应变效应、系综效应(ensemble effect)和载体效应等从本质上改变Pd的分布状态、空间排列和电子结构,从而影响ORR中间产物在Pd表面的吸附状态。最后,简要介绍了Pd基催化剂面临的挑战和未来的发展方向,对高性能ORR催化剂的设计制备具有重要意义。     

壳聚糖包覆多孔碳骨架的可控制备及其电催化性能

燃料电池是一种环境友好、转换效率高、能量密度高的能量转换装置,可将化学能直接转换为电能。但目前应用于阴极氧还原（oxygen reduction reaction, ORR）的铂基催化剂价格昂贵、资源稀缺、抗甲醇能力低的缺点限制了它的应用。基于此,以生物质材料壳聚糖为前驱体,通过水热法将壳聚糖包覆到分层多孔氮掺杂碳骨架（hierarchically porous nitrogen-doped carbon, HPC）上,经高温处理得到了高效的铁掺杂壳聚糖包覆HPC催化剂（Fe-HPC@CTS）。研究结果表明：壳聚糖已包覆到HPC上,有效的提升了催化剂的比表面积;壳聚糖包覆HPC,一方面增加了催化剂中的活性位点,另一方面HPC提供了导电性好、比表面积大的基底,从而使得催化剂拥有一个良好的电子传输通道以及暴露更多的活性位点,从而使催化剂的ORR性能有明显的提升;该催化剂在碱性条件下ORR半波电位为0.80 V,极限电流密度为6.50 mA·cm^-2。通过抗甲醇性能测试,该催化剂的抗甲醇性能要优于20% Pt/C催化剂。     

Low-dimensional catalysts for oxygen reduction reaction

Developing highly efficient electrocatalysts to facilitate the sluggish cathodic oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) is a key challenge for high-performance fuel cells. Low-dimensional materials have attracted great attention recently because of their unique structure and properties. In this review, the application of zero-dimensional (0D), one‐dimensional (1D), and two‐dimensional (2D) materials in ORR are discussed and particular attention is given to the relationship between their structure and the ORR activity. Graphene-based materials, transition metal dichalcogenides, transition metal oxide, nanotubes, nanoribbons, nanowires, and single-atom ORR catalysts are introduced and classified by their geometric dimension.     

Present status and future prospect of design of Pt–cerium oxide electrodes for fuel cell applications

In the research field of proton exchange membrane fuel cells, the design of electrocatalytic activities on Pt-oxide promoter in the anode side has attracted attention for improvement of CO tolerance of Pt in anode side and a lowering of large over-potential loss of the oxygen reduction reaction on the cathode in the fuel cells. In the Pt-oxide promoter series, Pt–CeOx/C is one of the unique systems. It is because the unique behavior of CeOx such as electrochemical redox reaction between Ce3t and Ce4t in the anodic and cathodic reactions of fuel cell is observed. The present short review gives an overview of the recent works for improvement of the CO tolerance of Pt in the Pt–CeOx/C anodes and enhancement of the oxygen reduction reaction activity on Pt in the Pt–CeOx/C cathodes for fuel cell application. To show the design paradigm for fabrication of high quality Pt–CeOx/C electrodes, the authors re-introduced parts of our research results to highlight the important role of interface structure of Pt–CeOx based on the ultimate analysis results. The usefulness of the combined approach of microanalysis and the processing route design is presented.     

Central electron-enriched NO-FeN4 sites as superior acidic oxygen reduction reaction electrocatalysts for proton exchange membrane fuel cells

Developing nobel-metal-free catalysts, especially for iron-nitrogen on carbon (FeNC) materials, has been an urgent demand for wide applications of proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs). However, the inferior oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) activity of traditional iron-nitrogen sites in acidic conditions seriously impedes the further improvement of their performance. Herein, we synthesized FeN₄ with NO (nitric oxide) group axial modification (denoted as NO-FeN₄) on a large scale through a confined small molecule synthesis strategy. Benefitting from the strong electron-withdrawing effect of the NO group, the central electron-rich FeN₄ site exhibits ultrahigh ORR activity with a three times higher mass activity (1.1 A·g?1 at 0.85 V) compared to the traditional FeN₄ sample, as well as full four-electron reaction selectivity. Moreover, the PEMFC assembled with the as-prepared electrocatalyst also exhibits a greatly enhanced peak power density (>725 mW·cm?2). This work provides a new approach to rationally design advanced M-N_x nonnoble electrocatalysts for the ORR.     

热解聚苯胺合成氮掺杂MnCo2O4-C氧还原催化剂

通过热解聚苯胺涂层的Mn Co2O4颗粒制备出Mn Co2O4/N-C材料,即一种新型的碱性聚合物电解质膜燃料电池(APEFC)阴极非贵金属催化剂。在不同温度下热处理得到了一系列的Mn Co2O4/N-C催化剂,对其进行XRD、Raman、XPS表征和LSV电化学测试,结果表明:热处理温度为900℃,Mn Co2O4质量分数为15%时,Mn Co2O4/N-C催化剂具有最佳的催化活性,氧还原反应起始电位为0.90 V;该催化剂中石墨型的碳和氮含量最高,这是其具有较高的氧还原催化活性一个重要因素。     

氮掺杂还原氧化石墨包覆金属钴复合材料的制备及其氧还原性能的研究

采用搅拌反应法制备了ZnCo（ZIF）与氧化石墨（graphite oxide,GO）的复合材料,热处理得到Co@N-doped rGO催化剂。通过X射线衍射（X-ray diffraction,XRD）和扫描电子显微镜（scanning electron microscopy,SEM）对催化剂进行结构表征,通过X射线光电子能谱（X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy,XPS）对催化剂进行表面元素分析,分别考察了金属（Zn和Co）加入量和热处理温度对催化剂氧气还原反应（oxygen reduction reaction,ORR）催化性能的影响,结果表明：所制备的催化剂整体呈层状分布,表面附着金属小颗粒团簇;随着金属加入量的增加,催化剂的ORR催化性能先增强后减弱;随着热处理温度的升高,催化剂的ORR催化性能先增强后减弱。所制备的S-2-850催化剂具有最好的ORR催化性能,在0.1 mol/L KOH电解液中,其起始电位和半波电位分别为0.871 V和0.804 V,在相同测试条件下活性稳定性优于20% Pt/C。     

Large specific surface area S-doped Fe–N–C electrocatalysts derived from Metal–Organic frameworks for oxygen reduction reaction

It is highly desired but challenging to develop platinum group metal-free electrocatalysts for oxygen reduction reaction (ORR), which can promote the commercialization of fuel cell technology. To achieve this target, we report a one-step doping method to prepare S-doped Fe–N–C catalysts using zeolite imidazole framework (ZIF-8) and iron (III) thiocyanate (Fe(SCN)₃) as precursor. Different from conventional doping approach, i.e. physical mixing, Fe(SCN)₃ is in-situ added during ZIF-8 formation which would encapsulate Fe(SCN)₃ molecules inside ZIF-8 to avoid structure destruction and create potential replacement of Zn ions by Fe ions to form uniform Fe–N₄ complexes. As a result, the prepared S-doped Fe–N–C catalysts own large specific surface areas with a maximum value of 1326 ​m² ​g⁻¹ and a dual-scale porous structure that benefits mass transport. Significantly, the composition-optimized catalyst exhibits superior ORR activity in both 0.1 ​M HClO₄ electrolyte and 0.1 ​M KOH electrolyte, in which the half-wave potential reaches 0.81 ​V and 0.92 ​V (vs. RHE), respectively. Remarkable stability is also attained, which loses 2 ​mV only after 10000 potential cycles in O₂-saturated 0.1 ​M HClO₄ and remains almost constant in O₂-saturated 0.1 ​M KOH, surpassing commercial Pt/C catalyst in both acidic and alkaline medium.     

Pt nanocrystals electrodeposited on reduced graphene oxide/carbon fiber paper with efficient electrocatalytic properties

Carbon fiber paper(CFP) wrapped with reduced graphene oxide(rGO) film as the composite support(rGO/CFP) of Pt catalysts was studied. It was found that rGO could affect the size and morphology of Pt nanocrystals(NCs). Concave nanocubes(CNC) Pt NCs~ 20 nm were uniformly electrodeposited on high reduced HrGO/CFP while irregular Pt NCs~62 nm were loaded on low reduced LrGO. Compared with Pt-LrGO/CFP and Pt-MrGO/CFP, the CNC Pt-HrGO/CFP exhibited a higher electrochemically active surface area(121.7 m~2 g~(-1)), as well as enhanced electrooxidation activity of methanol(499 mA mg~(-1)) and formic acid(950 mA mg~(-1)). The results further demonstrated that the CNC Pt-HrGO/CFP could serve as the gas diffusion electrode in fuel cells and yielded a satisfactory performance(1855 mW mg~(-1)). The work can provide an attractive perspective on the convenient preparation of the novel gas diffusion electrode for proton exchange membrane fuel cells.     

纳米Pt/Graphene复合电极的制备及对甲醇电催化性能的影响

采用一步还原法制备直接甲醇燃料电池纳米Pt/graphene (Pt/G)阳极. XRD和SEM表征表明Pt纳米均匀分散于石墨烯表面.循环伏安和计时电流的电化学测定结果表明:复合纳米Pt/G的催化活性和稳定性优于纯铂;采用计时电量法测定298 K时甲醇在硫酸溶液中扩散系数为1.37×10-9 cm2·s-1,以及在不同阶跃电位下甲醇催化氧化反应速率常数k_f.      

通过合金和去合金过程制备一种海绵状的纳米多孔铂以及对氧的电催化还原

采用一种简易的方法制备了海绵状的球形纳米多孔铂,首先是用循环伏安法在玻碳电极上电沉积得到铂铜合金,然后在浓硝酸中刻蚀合金去掉铜．用到场发射扫描电镜、X射线光电子能谱、X射线衍射和循环伏安法对其进行了表征．也对制备此种铂催化剂的条件进行了优化．此种铂修饰电极对氧的还原表现出很高的电催化活性,其氧的还原峰电流是相应纳米铂修饰电极的四倍．这种制备海绵状纳米多孔结构的方法以及所得到得到铂修饰电极可能在燃料电池和生物传感器等领域有着很大的应用前景．