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Biomass Derived N‐Doped Porous Carbon Supported Single Fe Atoms as Superior Electrocatalysts for Oxygen Reduction
Author(s) -
Zhang Zhengping,
Gao Xinjin,
Dou Meiling,
Ji Jing,
Wang Feng
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
small
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.785
H-Index - 236
eISSN - 1613-6829
pISSN - 1613-6810
DOI - 10.1002/smll.201604290
Subject(s) - electrocatalyst , catalysis , materials science , carbon fibers , chemical engineering , methanol , nanotechnology , nanoparticle , atomic units , chemistry , electrochemistry , organic chemistry , composite number , electrode , composite material , engineering , physics , quantum mechanics
Exploring sustainable and high‐performance electrocatalysts for the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) is the crucial issue for the large‐scale application of fuel cell technology. A new strategy is demonstrated to utilize the biomass resource for the synthesis of N‐doped hierarchically porous carbon supported single‐atomic Fe (SA‐Fe/NHPC) electrocatalyst toward the ORR. Based on the confinement effect of porous carbon and high‐coordination natural iron source, SA‐Fe/NHPC, derived from the hemin‐adsorbed bio‐porphyra‐carbon by rapid heat‐treatment up to 800 °C, presents the atomic dispersion of Fe atoms in the N‐doped porous carbon. Compared with the molecular hemin and nanoparticle Fe samples, the as‐prepared SA‐Fe/NHPC exhibits a superior catalytic activity ( E 1/2 = 0.87 V and J k = 4.1 mA cm −2 , at 0.88 V), remarkable catalytic stability (≈1 mV negative shift of E 1/2 , after 3000 potential cycles), and outstanding methanol‐tolerance, even much better than the state‐of‐the‐art Pt/C catalyst. The sustainable and effective strategy for utilizing biomass to achieve high‐performance single‐atom catalysts can also provide an opportunity for other catalytic applications in the atomic scale.