Rational Design and Synthesis of Hierarchical Porous Mn–N–C Nanoparticles with Atomically Dispersed MnNx Moieties for Highly Efficient Oxygen Reduction Reaction
[1];
[1];
- Guangxi Univ., Nanning (China). Collaborative Innovation Center of Sustainable Energy Materials; Ministry of Education, Nanning (China). Guangxi Key Lab. of Electrochemical Energy Materials, Key Lab. of New processing Technology for Non-ferrous Metal and Materials
- Inst. of Chemical and Engineering Sciences, Jurong Island (Singapore)
- Brookhaven National Lab. (BNL), Upton, NY (United States). National Synchrotron Light Source II (NSLS-II)
Developing transition-metal excluding iron and cobalt–nitrogen–carbon (M–N–C) electrocatalysts for the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) is critical to substantially promote the development of precious-metal-free metal–air batteries and fuel cells. In the work, Mn–N–C nanoparticles with atomically dispersed MnNx moieties were synthesized by pyrolyzing Mn-ion–dual-pyridine coordinated complex, which was obtained via a simple condensation reaction between 2,6-diamino-pyridine and 2,6-diacetyl-pyridine with MnCl2 as the Mn source. The precursor features with a characteristic structure of dual-pyridine ligand, which possesses a strong coordinating capability for Mn2+, facilitating the formation of highly dispersed nitrogen-coordinated Mn sites (MnNx). Attributed to the highly active atomic MnNx sites, hierarchical pore structure, and high surface area of the Mn–N–C derived from the new precursor, it exhibits outstanding ORR performance in 0.1 M KOH with an almost direct four-electron reaction path and high selectivity of O2 into H2O (low H2O2 production <3.5%). The half-wave potential of Mn–N–C is 0.88 V vs RHE, which is 20 mV higher than that of commercial Pt/C catalyst and reaches to the level of Fe–N–C catalyst obtained by the same method. Meanwhile, the feasibility of Mn–N–C for practical application is validated by its higher-performance power output in Zn–air battery with a maximum power density of 132 mW cm–2 compared to that of Pt/C (121 mW cm–2) using the same catalyst loading of 1.0 mg cm–2. This work develops a convenient route to develop non-Fe or Co–N–C electrocatalyst for the ORR.
- Research Organization:
- Brookhaven National Lab. (BNL), Upton, NY (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES); National Key R&D Plan of China; National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC); Innovation Project of Guangxi Graduate Education of China
- Grant/Contract Number:
- SC0012704; 2017YFB0103001; U1705252; AB16380030; AA17204083; YCBZ2020011
- OSTI ID:
- 1656593
- Report Number(s):
- BNL-216322-2020-JAAM
- Journal Information:
- ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering, Vol. 8, Issue 25; ISSN 2168-0485
- Publisher:
- American Chemical Society (ACS)Copyright Statement
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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