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Doping Copper Ions into an Fe/N/C Composite Promotes Catalyst Performance for the Oxygen Reduction Reaction
Author(s) -
Yu GuoQiang,
Wei PingJie,
Wang FeiFei,
Liu JinGang
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
chemelectrochem
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.182
H-Index - 59
ISSN - 2196-0216
DOI - 10.1002/celc.201600904
Subject(s) - catalysis , calcination , graphene , materials science , oxide , inorganic chemistry , electrolyte , copper , chemical engineering , carbon nanotube , metal , chemistry , nanotechnology , electrode , metallurgy , organic chemistry , engineering
Developing new non‐precious‐metal catalysts for the cathodic oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) in low‐temperature fuel cells is highly desirable for replacing Pt‐based noble‐metal electrocatalysts. Herein, we report a two‐step method to prepare Fe, Cu, and N‐doped reduced graphene oxide/carbon nanotube (rGO/CNT) composites through the low‐temperature hydrothermal treatment of iron‐porphyrin‐modified graphene and copper‐chloride‐loaded CNTs followed by high‐temperature calcination, for use as efficient and stable electrocatalysts for the ORR. The optimized Fe/Cu−N‐rGO/CNT catalyst exhibited higher ORR activity and superior stability, as compared to a commercial Pt/C catalyst in 0.1 mol ⋅ L −1 KOH solutions, and also demonstrates good stability in acidic electrolytes. These results suggest that additional doping of Cu ions into the Fe/N/C catalyst significantly promotes the catalyst ORR performance.