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Chemical Vapor Deposition for Atomically Dispersed and Nitrogen Coordinated Single Metal Site Catalysts
Author(s) -
Liu Shengwen,
Wang Maoyu,
Yang Xiaoxuan,
Shi Qiurong,
Qiao Zhi,
Lucero Marcos,
Ma Qing,
More Karren L.,
Cullen David A.,
Feng Zhenxing,
Wu Gang
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
angewandte chemie international edition
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 5.831
H-Index - 550
eISSN - 1521-3773
pISSN - 1433-7851
DOI - 10.1002/anie.202009331
Subject(s) - catalysis , chemical vapor deposition , proton exchange membrane fuel cell , electrochemistry , metal , nitrogen , inorganic chemistry , platinum , carbon fibers , chemical engineering , materials science , electrolyte , chemistry , nanotechnology , electrode , organic chemistry , composite number , engineering , composite material , metallurgy
Atomically dispersed and nitrogen coordinated single metal sites (M‐N‐C, M=Fe, Co, Ni, Mn) are the popular platinum group‐metal (PGM)‐free catalysts for many electrochemical reactions. Traditional wet‐chemistry catalyst synthesis often requires complex procedures with unsatisfied reproducibility and scalability. Here, we report a facile chemical vapor deposition (CVD) strategy to synthesize the promising M‐N‐C catalysts. The deposition of gaseous 2‐methylimidazole onto M‐doped ZnO substrates, followed by an in situ thermal activation, effectively generated single metal sites well dispersed into porous carbon. In particular, an optimal CVD‐derived Fe‐N‐C catalyst exclusively contains atomically dispersed FeN 4 sites with increased Fe loading relative to other catalysts from wet‐chemistry synthesis. The catalyst exhibited outstanding oxygen‐reduction activity in acidic electrolytes, which was further studied in proton‐exchange membrane fuel cells with encouraging performance.