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A high performance ORR electrocatalyst—Mn-N5-C/G: design, synthesis, and related mechanism

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Abstract

Platinum group metal (PGM)-free catalysts are highly desirable for oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) for clean energy. To prevent possible Fenton reaction, a catalyst containing manganese-nitrogen-carbon coordination structure (Mn-N–C) supported on monolayer graphene (Mn-N–C/G) is synthesized through a self-developed tailoring, self-assembling, and reconstructing vapor phase deposition (TSRVD) process using manganese phthalocyanine (MnPc) as the precursor. The novel catalyst Mn-N–C/G with high-density and well-organized distribution of manganese ion center coordinated with five nitrogen (Mn-N5) active sites, efficient electron-conductivity from the carbon six-member ring, and ideal structural stability shows an onset potential of 0.99 V vs. RHE and current density of 1.3 mA cm−2 at potential 0.88 V vs. RHE compared with commercial Pt/C (0.96 V vs. RHE and 1.1 mA cm−2, respectively). Based on the analyses of SEM, HRTEM, XRD, SAED, Raman, and XPS on catalyst Mn-N–C/G, a reasonable formation model of catalyst Mn-N–C/G is proposed.

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Acknowledgements

The authors acknowledge the financial support of Key Laboratory of Metal Fuel Cell of Sichuan Province.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Chemical Engineering and Technology, Tianjin University, Tianjin, China

    Xu Meng, Dongzi Yang & Wei Wang

  2. The 18Th Research Institute of China Electronics Technology Group Corporation, Tianjin, 300384, China

    Songrui Wang & Xingjiang Liu

  3. Key Laboratory of Metal Fuel Cell of Sichuan Province, Sichuan, China

    Wei Wang

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  1. Xu Meng
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  2. Dongzi Yang
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  3. Songrui Wang
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  4. Xingjiang Liu
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  5. Wei Wang
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Correspondence to Wei Wang.

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Meng, X., Yang, D., Wang, S. et al. A high performance ORR electrocatalyst—Mn-N5-C/G: design, synthesis, and related mechanism. Ionics 27, 3489–3499 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11581-021-04154-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11581-021-04154-2

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