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Nitrogen‐Doped Annealed Nanodiamonds with Varied sp 2 /sp 3 Ratio as Metal‐Free Electrocatalyst for the Oxygen Reduction Reaction
Author(s) -
Zhu Yansong,
Lin Yangming,
Zhang Bingsen,
Rong Junfeng,
Zong Baoning,
Su Dang Sheng
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
chemcatchem
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.497
H-Index - 106
eISSN - 1867-3899
pISSN - 1867-3880
DOI - 10.1002/cctc.201402930
Subject(s) - electrocatalyst , catalysis , carbon fibers , nitrogen , electrochemistry , metal , inorganic chemistry , oxygen , chemistry , materials science , electrode , organic chemistry , composite material , composite number
Nitrogen‐doped nanocarbon materials as metal‐free electrocatalysts for the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) have attracted great attention, owing to their catalytic activity close to Pt/C in alkaline media. Annealed nanodiamonds (AND) possess a special structure, because we can finely control the carbon sp 2 /sp 3 ratio. This provides a good opportunity to study the relationship between ORR performance (activity and stability) and the special structure of AND. We have used nitrogen‐doped annealed nanodiamonds (NAND) with varied carbon sp 2 /sp 3 ratio as metal‐free electrocatalysts for ORR in alkaline media. NAND showed higher catalytic activity for ORR with higher content of sp 2 carbon and larger amount of nitrogen species present as pyridinic groups. More importantly, NAND displayed stability superior to other nitrogen‐doped nanocarbon materials as a result of transformation of carbon from sp 3 to sp 2 during electrochemical cycling.