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Metal–organic-framework-derived Co/nitrogen-doped porous carbon composite as an effective oxygen reduction electrocatalyst

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Abstract

A Co-metal–organic-framework (MOF) crystal has been hydrothermally synthesized. Then the corresponding Co/nitrogen-doped porous carbon (Co/NPC) composite is fabricated by direct pyrolyzation of MOF without any precursor additive. The results reveal that the MOF-derived Co/NPC exhibits a porous structure with a surface area of 412 m2 g−1 and a narrow pore size distribution (from 1.8 to 4.9 nm). The doped N mainly occurs in pyridine N and graphitic N types with total content as 4.11 at.%, which is originated from the N-based ligands in MOF. As an efficient oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) catalyst, Co/NPC shows a more positive onset potential (0.91 V vs. RHE) with a diffusion-limited current density of 5.46 mA cm−2 at 0.3 V (vs. RHE). The rotating disk electrode and rotating ring-disk electrode results suggest that the Co/NPC catalyst experiences a nearly 4e pathway with a stronger methanol tolerance and better durability than commercial Pt/C catalyst in 0.1 M KOH. The excellent ORR catalytic activity of Co/NPC can be attributed to the N-doped porous carbon structure with incorporated metallic Co active species. This work affords a new strategy for preparation of non-noble metal ORR catalysts employing MOF as a precursor.

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Acknowledgements

This work is financially supported by the Key Research and Development Program of Shandong Province (2017GGX20143), the Natural Science Foundation of Shandong Province, China (ZR2014JL013), Taishan Scholar Program of Shandong Province of China, the National Natural Science Foundation of China (21173135, 21405088, 21573133 and 21575073), the Foundation of Key Laboratory of Sensor Analysis of Tumor Marker, Ministry of Education, Qingdao University of Science and Technology (SATM201603), the open foundation from the Key Lab of Marine Bioactive Substance and Modern Analysis Technology, SOA (MBSMAT-2017-02, MBSMAT-2016-02 and MBSMAT-2015-04).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Sensor Analysis of Tumor Marker (Ministry of Education), State Key Laboratory Base of Eco-chemical Engineering, College of Chemistry and Molecular Engineering, Qingdao University of Science and Technology, Qingdao, 266042, China

    Tianrong Zhan, SiSi Lu, Haoqing Rong, Wanguo Hou & Yonghong Wen

  2. Department of Applied Chemistry, College of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, Shandong University of Science and Technology, Qingdao, 266510, China

    Hongni Teng

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  1. Tianrong Zhan
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Correspondence to Tianrong Zhan or Yonghong Wen.

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Zhan, T., Lu, S., Rong, H. et al. Metal–organic-framework-derived Co/nitrogen-doped porous carbon composite as an effective oxygen reduction electrocatalyst. J Mater Sci 53, 6774–6784 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10853-018-1989-x

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