Open AccessAncient Chemistry “Pharaoh’s Snakes” for Efficient Fe-/N-Doped Carbon Electrocatalysts
Author(s) -
Guangyuan Ren,
Liangliang Gao,
Chao Teng,
Yunan Li,
Hequn Yang,
Jianglan Shui,
Xianyong Lu,
Ying Zhu,
Liming Dai
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
acs applied materials and interfaces
Language(s) - Uncategorized
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.535
H-Index - 228
eISSN - 1944-8252
pISSN - 1944-8244
DOI - 10.1021/acsami.7b16936
Subject(s) - overpotential , catalysis , electrocatalyst , materials science , oxygen evolution , carbon fibers , melamine , chemical engineering , reversible hydrogen electrode , inorganic chemistry , redox , nanosheet , nanotechnology , electrochemistry , electrode , chemistry , organic chemistry , metallurgy , composite material , composite number , engineering , reference electrode
The method of fabricating nonprecious metal electrocatalysts with high activity and durability through a facile and eco-friendly procedure is of great significance to the development of low-cost fuel cells and metal-air batteries. Herein, we present that an ancient chemical reaction of "Pharaoh's snakes" can be a fast and convenient technique to prepare Fe-/N-doped carbon (Fe/N-C) nanosheet/nanotube electrocatalysts with sugar, soda, melamine, and iron nitrate as precursors. The resultant Fe/N-C catalyst has a hierarchically porous structure, a large surface area, and uniformly distributed active sites. The catalyst shows high electrocatalytic activities toward both the oxygen reduction reaction with a half-wave potential of 0.90 V (vs reversible hydrogen electrode) better than that of Pt/C and the oxygen evolution reaction with an overpotential of 0.46 V at the current density of 10 mA cm -2 comparable to that of RuO 2 . The activity and stability of the catalyst are also evaluated in primary and rechargeable Zn-air batteries. In both conditions, three-dimensional Fe/N-C exhibited performances superior to Pt/C. Our work demonstrates a success of utilizing an ancient science to make a state-of-the-art electrocatalyst.