Boosting the activity of non-platinum group metal electrocatalyst for the reduction of oxygen via dual-ligated atomically dispersed precursors immobilized on carbon supports

Zhou, Yu; Al-Zoubi, Talha; Ma, Yanling; Hsiao, Haw-Wen; Zhang, Cheng; Sun, Chengjun; Zuo, Jian-Min; Yang, Hong

doi:10.1016/j.nanoen.2021.106547

Boosting the activity of non-platinum group metal electrocatalyst for the reduction of oxygen via dual-ligated atomically dispersed precursors immobilized on carbon supports

Journal Article · Wed Sep 22 00:00:00 EDT 2021 · Nano Energy

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nanoen.2021.106547· OSTI ID:1879100

Zhou, Yu ^[1]; Al-Zoubi, Talha ^[2]; Ma, Yanling ^[2]; Hsiao, Haw-Wen ^[2]; Zhang, Cheng ^[2]; Sun, Chengjun ^[3]; Zuo, Jian-Min ^[2]; Yang, Hong ^[2]

Univ. of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, IL (United States); Tianjin Univ. (China)
Univ. of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, IL (United States)
Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States)

This paper describes the use of both atomically dispersed precursors (ADPs) and conductive carbon dispersion towards the synthesis of iron-based single atom electrocatalysts for the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR). For non-platinum group metal (non-PGM) catalysts, single iron, cobalt or manganese atoms coordinated with nitrogen are the most active structures towards the ORR. Achieving a high density of active sites made of single atoms is still challenging, requiring careful controls of pyrolysis to reduce the sintering of metal active sites. Herewith, we present a new strategy to synthesize iron-based single atom ORR electrocatalysts using a two pronged approach. We first designed a dual-ligated metal organic framework (MOF) precursor. This MOF was then immobilized onto Ketjen black carbon that serves as a conductive dispersion medium for creating the highly dispersed single atom sites. In this work, we demonstrate a near complete dispersion of the iron sites without obvious formation of nanoparticles. The activity of the resulting electrocatalyst exhibited an onset potential of 0.96 V and a half-wave potential of 0.84 V vs. reversible hydrogen electrode (RHE).

View Accepted Manuscript (DOE)

Research Organization:: Argonne National Laboratory (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States). Advanced Photon Source (APS)

Sponsoring Organization:: Chinese−American Railway Transportation Joint Research Center; USDOE Office of Science

Grant/Contract Number:: AC02-06CH11357

OSTI ID:: 1879100

Journal Information:: Nano Energy, Journal Name: Nano Energy Journal Issue: Part: A Vol. 90; ISSN 2211-2855

Publisher:: ElsevierCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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42 ENGINEERING
Atomically dispersed
Dual-ligated
Immobilized
Non-platinum group metal
Oxygen reduction reaction
Single atom

Boosting the activity of non-platinum group metal electrocatalyst for the reduction of oxygen via dual-ligated atomically dispersed precursors immobilized on carbon supports

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