Issue 37, 2024

Atomically dispersed Co-based species containing electron withdrawing groups for electrocatalytic oxygen reduction reactions

Abstract

Single-atom-based catalysts are a promising catalytic system with advantages of molecular catalysts and conductive supports. In this work, a new hybrid material (CoF/NG) is produced using a low-temperature reaction between an organometallic complex (Co(C5HF6O2)2) (CoF) and N-doped reduced graphene oxide (NG). CoF contains electron-withdrawing CF3 groups in the ligand around a Co atom. Microscopic and chemical characterization studies reveal that Co-based species are coordinated to N sites of NG and molecularly dispersed on the surface of NG. The CoF/NG hybrid shows improved electrocatalytic properties, such as onset (0.91 V) and half-wave (0.80 V) potentials, for the electrochemical oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) relative to the NG material. Control experiments reveal that Co–(N)graphene acts as a major active species for ORR. CoF/NG shows moderate cycling durability and microscopy measurements of CoF/NG-after-cycle indicate the formation of nanoparticles after electrocatalytic measurements. All experimental data support that the incorporation of Co-based organometallic species containing electron-withdrawing groups around the metal center onto the graphene-based networks improves the electrocatalytic ORR performance but diminishes the electrocatalytic stability of the active species.

Graphical abstract: Atomically dispersed Co-based species containing electron withdrawing groups for electrocatalytic oxygen reduction reactions

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
15 Apr 2024
Accepted
21 Aug 2024
First published
22 Aug 2024
This article is Open Access
Creative Commons BY license

Nanoscale, 2024,16, 17419-17425

Atomically dispersed Co-based species containing electron withdrawing groups for electrocatalytic oxygen reduction reactions

Y. Shin, S. Park, H. Jang, G. Shin, D. Shin and S. Park, Nanoscale, 2024, 16, 17419 DOI: 10.1039/D4NR01635A

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