Inexpensive Ipomoea aquatica Biomass-Modified Carbon Black as an Active Pt-Free Electrocatalyst for Oxygen Reduction Reaction in an Alkaline Medium

Materials

Yaqiong Zhang¹  Chaozhong Guo¹  Zili Ma¹  Huijuan Wu¹  Changguo Chen¹ 

[1] College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Chongqing University, Chongqing 400044, China;

关键词: oxygen reduction reaction;    Pt-free;    Ipomoea aquatic;    biomass;   

DOI  :  10.3390/ma8105331

来源: mdpi

【 摘 要 】

The development of inexpensive and active Pt-free catalysts as an alternative to Pt-based catalysts for oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) is an essential prerequisite for fuel cell commercialization. In this paper, we report a strategy for the design of a new Fe–N/C electrocatalyst derived from the co-pyrolysis of Ipomoea aquatica biomass, carbon black (Vulcan XC-72R) and FeCl₃·6H₂O at 900 °C under nitrogen atmosphere. Electrochemical results show that the Fe–N/C catalyst exhibits higher electrocatalytic activity for ORR, longer durability and higher tolerance to methanol compared to a commercial Pt/C catalyst (40 wt %) in an alkaline medium. In particular, Fe–N/C presents an onset potential of 0.05 V (vs. Hg/HgO) for ORR in an alkaline medium, with an electron transfer number (n) of ~3.90, which is close to that of Pt/C. Our results confirm that the catalyst derived from I. aquatica and carbon black is a promising non-noble metal catalyst as an alternative to commercial Pt/C catalysts.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© 2015 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.