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Preparation of a High Performance Electrocatalyst for Oxygen Reduction Reaction by Suppressing the Agglomeration of the Carbon Material with RbCl
Author(s) -
Yuan Bing,
Li Ping,
Tian Mochong,
Qin Qing,
Liu Xien
Publication year - 2018
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.201801406
Subject(s) - electrocatalyst , catalysis , metal , chemistry , inorganic chemistry , materials science , chemical engineering , electrode , electrochemistry , organic chemistry , engineering
Replacing platinum (Pt) electrocatalysts with metal‐free or non‐precious metal electrocatalysts for the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) remains an enormous challenge. Herein, a new highly active spheroidal nanocarbon ORR electrocatalyst is synthesized by annealing a rubidium‐phytic acid gel. The catalyst is composed of N, P‐doped spheroidal nanocarbon modified by PO 4 − groups on the surface and with an ultralow content of Rb (0.005 wt%) (PON/C‐“Rb”). The agglomeration caused by annealing in the presence of phytic acid alone is completely suppressed by the addition of RbCl. Because more edges, defects and PO 4 − groups are present on the PON/C‐“Rb”, the as‐prepared PON/C‐“Rb” electrocatalyst exhibits an outstanding ORR activity with a half‐wave potential that is 40 mV more positive than that of the commercial Pt/C catalyst and a similar onset potential of 1.00 V in a 0.1 M KOH solution. More importantly, the primary zinc‐air battery with PON/C‐“Rb” as a cathode catalyst shows a specific capacity and an energy density of 705 mAh g Zn −1 and 860 Wh Kg Zn −1 , respectively, which are comparable to most of the best reported metal‐free and non‐precious metal catalysts.