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Updated: Jun 13, 2025
Synthesis and Performance Characterizations of Transition Metal Single Atom Catalyst for Electrochemical CO2 Reduction
Published on: April 10, 2018
Strong Electronic Metal-Support Interactions Enable the Increased Spin State of Co-N4 Active Sites and Performance
Miao-Ying Chen, Shuhu Yin1, Gen Li2
1State Key Laboratory of Physical Chemistry of Solid Surfaces, Department of Chemistry, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Xiamen University, Xiamen 361005, P.R. China.
Abstract:
Nonprecious metal catalysts, particularly M-N-C catalysts, are widely recognized as promising contenders for the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR). However, a notable performance gap persists between M-N-C catalysts and Pt-based catalysts under acidic conditions. In this study, hybrid catalysts comprising single Co atoms and ultralow concentrations of Pt3Co intermetallic nanoparticles (NPs) are introduced to enhance ORR performance. Under acidic conditions, these hybrid catalysts demonstrate ORR efficiency with a half-wave potential of 0.895 V, negligible decay even after 80 000 cycles, and a high maximum power density of 1.34 W cm-2 in fuel cells. This performance surpasses those of Co-N-C and Pt/Co-N-C catalysts. Both experimental findings and theoretical computations suggest that the heightened ORR activity stems from an increase in the spin density of Co sites induced by noble metal NPs, facilitating the activation of O-O bonds via side-on overlapping and enabling a transition in the reaction pathway from associative to dissociative processes. This research offers a promising avenue for the systematic design of M-N-C cathodes with an enhanced performance for acidic fuel cells.
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