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Heterogenization of Ionic liquid Boosting Electrochemical Oxygen Reduction Performance of Co 3 O 4 Supported on Graphene Oxide
Author(s) -
Zhang Wenlin,
Yang Shuangcheng,
Bai ShaoTao,
Zhang LuHua,
Zhang Yongkang,
Yu Fengshou
Publication year - 2021
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.202001912
Subject(s) - electrochemistry , ionic liquid , oxide , graphene , catalysis , ionic bonding , materials science , electrochemical energy conversion , chemistry , synergistic catalysis , oxygen evolution , methanol , chemical engineering , inorganic chemistry , nanotechnology , electrode , ion , organic chemistry , engineering
Electrochemical oxygen reduction is essential for a variety of sustainable energy application technologies. The development of non‐noble metal based electrocatalysts with durable stability and lower overpotentials is still a challenge. According to the reaction mechanism, the difficulty is originated from large equilibrium potential for *OO − formation and high instability of it. Here, we synthesized a 2D electrocatalytic material with nano‐Co 3 O 4 supported on ionic liquid‐functionalized graphene oxide (Co 3 O 4 /IL−GO). Experimental results show the heterogenization strategy of IL enables anodic shifts of approximately 150 and 145 mV for the initial and half‐wave potentials, respectively, enabling Co 3 O 4 /IL−GO a comparable activity to the state‐of‐the‐art Pt/C catalyst. Moreover, Co 3 O 4 /IL−GO exhibits an excellent tolerance to methanol and superior long‐term stability over Pt/C making it a promising candidate for ORR in alkaline solutions. Theoretical calculations show the functionalized IL stabilizes the high‐energy Co−OO − intermediate through a strong pairing effect between the IL cation and the unstable *OO − adduct, and lowers the energy barrier for the subsequent Co−OOH formation, which enables the hybrid material a comparable activity and superior durability to Pt/C. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first exploration for heterogenization of IL onto electrode to stabilize crucial intermediates and subsequently boost the catalytic performance.