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Active catalysts based on cobalt oxide@cobalt/N-C nanocomposites for oxygen reduction reaction in alkaline solutions

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Abstract

Over the past few years, electrocatalysis for the oxygen reduction reaction in alkaline solutions has undergone tremendous advances, and non-precious metal catalysts are of prime interest. In this study, we present a highly promising CoO@Co/N-C (where N-C represents a N-doped carbon material) catalyst, achieving an onset potential of 0.99 V (versus the reversible hydrogen electrode (RHE)) and a limiting current density of 7.07 mA·cm−2 (at 0.3 V versus RHE) at a rotation rate of 2,500 rpm in an O2-saturated 0.1 M KOH solution, comparable to a commercial Pt/C catalyst. The H2-O2 alkaline fuel cell test of CoO@Co/N-C as the cathode reveals a maximum power density of 237 mW·cm−2. Detailed investigation clarifies that a synergistic effect, induced by C-N, Co-N-C, and CoO/Co moieties, is responsible for the bulk of the gain in catalytic activity.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Wuhan National Laboratory for Optoelectronics, School of Optical and Electronic Information, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, 1037 Luoyu Road, Wuhan, 430074, China

    Dekang Huang, Yanping Luo, Shaohui Li, Bingyan Zhang, Yan Shen & Mingkui Wang

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  1. Dekang Huang
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  2. Yanping Luo
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  3. Shaohui Li
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  4. Bingyan Zhang
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  5. Yan Shen
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  6. Mingkui Wang
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Correspondence to Yan Shen or Mingkui Wang.

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Huang, D., Luo, Y., Li, S. et al. Active catalysts based on cobalt oxide@cobalt/N-C nanocomposites for oxygen reduction reaction in alkaline solutions. Nano Res. 7, 1054–1064 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12274-014-0468-1

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