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Bimetallic organic frameworks derived CuNi/carbon nanocomposites as efficient electrocatalysts for oxygen reduction reaction

双金属有机骨架衍生CuNi/C纳米复合型高效氧还原催化剂的研究

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Abstract

Catalysts of oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) play key roles in renewable energy technologies such as metal-air batteries and fuel cells. Despite tremendous efforts, highly active catalysts with low cost remain elusive. This work used metal-organic frameworks to synthesize non-precious bimetallic carbon nanocomposites as efficient ORR catalysts. Although carbon-based Cu and Ni are good candidates, the hybrid nanocomposites take advantage of both metals to improve catalytic activity. The resulting molar ratio of Cu/Ni in the nanocomposites can be finely controlled by tuning the recipe of the precursors. Nanocomposites with a series of molar ratios were produced, and they exhibited much better ORR catalytic performance than their monometallic counterparts in terms of limited current density, onset potential and half-wave potential. In addition, their extraordinary stability in alkaline is superior to that of commercially-available Pt-based materials, which adds to the appeal of the bimetallic carbon nanocomposites as ORR catalysts. Their improved performance can be attributed to the synergetic effects of Cu and Ni, and the enhancement of the carbon matrix.

摘要

氧还原催化剂在金属空气电池和燃料电池的可再生能源技术中起至关重要的作用. 尽管该方面研究已有很多, 高活性低成本的催化剂的开发仍然十分困难. 本文以金属有机骨架为前驱体, 成功合成出非贵金属铜镍双金属碳基纳米复合物并作为高效的氧还原催化剂. 单金属复合物Cu/C和Ni/C皆具有较好的氧还原催化作用, 铜镍双金属复合物进一步综合了二者优点从而提升了催化性能. 本文所合成的铜镍双金属复合物中的金属比例可通过调整前驱体中的原料配比来准确控制, 所得的一系列金属比例的铜镍双金属碳基纳米复合物在极限电流密度、起始电位和半波电位三个方面都超过了单金属复合物. 此外, 铜镍双金属碳基纳米复合物在碱性环境中具有良好的稳定性且超过了目前最好的氧还原催化材料铂, 大大加强了其作为氧还原催化剂的优势. 铜镍双金属碳基纳米复合物优越的电化学催化性能归功于金属铜和镍以及碳材料基底的协同作用.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (21671096 and 21603094), the Natural Science Foundation of Shenzhen (JCYJ20150630145302231 and JCYJ20150331101823677), and the Science and Technology Innovation Foundation for the Undergraduates of SUSTech (2014S07, 2016S10 and 2016S20).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen, 518055, China

    Sisi Wu  (吴思思), Yinggang Zhu  (朱迎港), Yifeng Huo  (霍一峰), Yaocong Luo  (罗耀聪), Lihua Zhang  (张丽华), Yi Wan  (万弋), Bo Nan  (南博), Lujie Cao  (曹鲁杰), Zhenyu Wang  (王振宇), Minchan Li  (李泯婵), Mingyang Yang  (杨明阳), Hua Cheng  (程化) & Zhouguang Lu  (卢周广)

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  1. Sisi Wu  (吴思思)
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Correspondence to Zhouguang Lu  (卢周广).

Additional information

Author contributions Wu S, Cao L, Cheng H and Lu Z designed and conceived the research framework; Wu S, Zhu Y, Huo Y, Luo Y prepared and engineered the samples; Wu S, Zhu Y, Huo Y, Luo Y, Zhang L, Wan Y and Nan B conducted the performance investigation; Wang Z, Li M and Yang M conducted the characterizations; Wu S wrote the paper with support from Lu Z.

Conflict of interest The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Supplementary information Supporting data are available in the online version of this paper.

Sisi Wu received her BE degree in material science & engineering from Southern University of Science and Technology in 2016. She started a joint PhD at both National University of Singapore and Southern University of Science and Technology in 2017, under the supervision of Prof. Qing Wang and Prof. Zhouguang Lu. Her research interests are focused on the development of cathode materials and redox molecules for Li-air batteries.

Zhouguang Lu is currently an associate professor in the Department ofMaterials Science and Engineering, Southern University of Science and Technology, China. He received his PhD degree from City University of Hong Kong in 2009. He is the recipient of Fulbright Fellowship of USA Government in 2008–2009 and the Overseas High-Caliber Personnel (Level B) of Shenzhen Government in 2013. His research mainly covers the design and synthesis of nanostructures and their applications in energy storage and conversion with focus on lithium/sodium -ion and -air batteries. He has authored more than 100 peer-review journal papers with total citations more than 2800 and H-index of 30.

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Bimetallic organic frameworks derived CuNi/carbon nanocomposites as efficient electrocatalysts for oxygen reduction reaction

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Wu, S., Zhu, Y., Huo, Y. et al. Bimetallic organic frameworks derived CuNi/carbon nanocomposites as efficient electrocatalysts for oxygen reduction reaction. Sci. China Mater. 60, 654–663 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40843-017-9041-0

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