Architecture of CoNx single clusters on nanocarbon as excellent oxygen reduction catalysts with high-efficient atomic
Ting He1, Hui Xue, Xiaojuan Wang
1Hunan Provincial Key Laboratory of Efficient and Clean Utilization of Manganese Resources, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Central South University, 932 Lushan South Road, Yuelu District, Changsha, Hunan, China. yzhangcsu@csu.edu.cn xiangj@csu.edu.cn.
Abstract:
A new strategy to fabricate CoNx single cluster supported nanocarbon catalysts (C/P/2Co600) with enhanced atomic utilization towards the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) is reported. N-Coordination protection and low-temperature pyrolysis are the two key factors for the formation of CoNx single clusters on nanocarbon supports. Morphological and structural identification confirmed the simultaneous anchoring of homo-dispersed CoNx single clusters and N-doping on the nanocarbon under relatively mild thermal treatment conditions. Expectedly, the obtained single cluster catalyst with a trace amount of metal atoms exhibited excellent ORR performance including a positive half-wave potential (0.846 V), a high mass activity (0.98 A mgCo-1, ampere per milligram of cobalt) and outstanding chemical durability after 8000 potential cycles. We believe that our findings provide a new route for the rational design of low-cost and highly active ORR catalytic materials.
