Issue 8, 2016

Nitrogen-doped cobalt phosphate@nanocarbon hybrids for efficient electrocatalytic oxygen reduction

Abstract

The development of efficient non-noble metal electrocatalysts for the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) is still highly desirable before non-noble metal catalysts can replace platinum catalysts. Herein, we have synthesized a new type of ORR catalyst, Co3(PO4)2C-N/rGOA, containing N-coordinated cobalt phosphate, through the thermal treatment of a phosphonate-based metal–organic framework (MOF). Co3(PO4)2C-N/rGOA exhibits not only a comparable onset potential and half-wave potential but also superior stability to the commercial Pt/C catalyst for the ORR in alkaline solutions (0.1 and 1.0 M KOH). A combination of structural characterization (e.g., XPS, HRTEM, XANES, and EXAFS) and electrochemical analysis shows that the high ORR activity of the Co3(PO4)2C-N/rGOA catalyst should be attributed to the co-existence of N-doped graphitic carbon and the cobalt phosphate with Co–N species that boost the activity of the cobalt phosphate. These findings open an avenue for exploring the use of phosphonate-based MOFs for energy conversion and storage applications.

Graphical abstract: Nitrogen-doped cobalt phosphate@nanocarbon hybrids for efficient electrocatalytic oxygen reduction

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Communication
Submitted
04 May 2016
Accepted
06 Jul 2016
First published
07 Jul 2016

Energy Environ. Sci., 2016,9, 2563-2570

Nitrogen-doped cobalt phosphate@nanocarbon hybrids for efficient electrocatalytic oxygen reduction

T. Zhou, Y. Du, S. Yin, X. Tian, H. Yang, X. Wang, B. Liu, H. Zheng, S. Qiao and R. Xu, Energy Environ. Sci., 2016, 9, 2563 DOI: 10.1039/C6EE01297C

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