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Fabrication and bifunctional electrocatalytic performance of FeNi3/MnFe2O4/nitrogen-doping reduced graphene oxide nanocomposite for oxygen electrocatalytic reactions

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Abstract

The exploration of high-efficiency, low-cost, and long-durability bifunctional electrocatalysts for the oxygen reduction/evolution reactions (ORR/OER) through tuning the chemical components is a great challenge in the energy conversion and storage systems. Herein, we developed a facile and cost-effective strategy to fabricate a FeNi3/MnFe2O4/nitrogen-doped reduced graphene oxide (N-RGO) nanocomposite by calcining the NiFeMn-layered double hydroxides (LDHs)/polypyrrole (PPy)/RGO precursor at 550 °C in Ar atmosphere. The resulting FeNi3/MnFe2O4/N-RGO nanocomposite exhibits not only superior ORR activities (a half-wave potential (E1/2) of 0.76 V vs. RHE and a J1600 rpm of − 4.40 mA cm−2 at 0.5 V vs. RHE) but also excellent OER activities (an overpotential η10 mA cm-2 of 343 mV) in alkaline media. The overall oxygen electrode performance of FeNi3/MnFe2O4/N-RGO demonstrates the smallest ΔE (EOER, 10 mA cm-2-EORR, −3 mA cm-2) value of 0.85 V compared with the benchmark (commercial 20 wt% Pt/C and RuO2/C). Moreover, FeNi3/MnFe2O4/N-RGO also displays superior methanol tolerance in ORR and good durability in both ORR and OER, making it promising applications for oxygen electrocatalysis.

We have successfully fabricated a highly efficient and robust FeNi3/MnFe2O4/N-RGO bifunctional electrocatalyst derived from NiFeMn-LDH/PPy/RGO precursor for oxygen electrocatalytic reactions. Based on the synergistic effect among different components, the resulting FeNi3/MnFe2O4/N-RGO displays excellent ORR activities in 0.1 M KOH and good OER activities in 1.0 M KOH. Moreover, the FeNi3/MnFe2O4/N-RGO shows superior bifunctional electrocatalytic performance with the lowest ΔE value of 0.85 V, which is comparable with that of commercial Pt/C catalyst for ORR and that of commercial RuO2/C for OER.

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Funding

This work is supported by the Doctoral Research start-up Fund of Zhengzhou University of Light Industry (2017BSJJ040), Project of National Science Foundation of China (No. 21671178), Joint Project of National Natural Science Foundation of China (U1704256).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Henan Provincial Key Laboratory of Surface & Interface Science, Zhengzhou University of Light Industry, No. 136, Science Avenue, Zhengzhou, 450001, People’s Republic of China

    Xiaodong Jia, Yong Zhang, Linsen Zhang, Lizhen Wang & Liming Zhou

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  1. Xiaodong Jia
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Correspondence to Xiaodong Jia or Liming Zhou.

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Jia, X., Zhang, Y., Zhang, L. et al. Fabrication and bifunctional electrocatalytic performance of FeNi3/MnFe2O4/nitrogen-doping reduced graphene oxide nanocomposite for oxygen electrocatalytic reactions. Ionics 26, 991–1001 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11581-019-03251-7

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