Issue 20, 2016

Sodium chloride-assisted green synthesis of a 3D Fe–N–C hybrid as a highly active electrocatalyst for the oxygen reduction reaction

Abstract

To promote the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) on a non-precious-metal catalyst, integrating two-dimensional (2D) nanosheets and one-dimensional (1D) nanotubes in one catalyst is considered as one of the desirable approaches since this hybrid architecture can host more useful active sites and enhance mass/electron transfer. Herein, we demonstrated a sodium chloride-assisted strategy for the in situ synthesis of a three-dimensional (3D) hybrid of carbon nanosheets and nanotubes. The micrometer-scale sodium chloride (NaCl) crystal acted as a recyclable skeleton to adsorb the precursors on its surfaces, which assisted the formation of micrometer-sized graphitic carbon nanosheets with nanometer thickness by the template effect during the pyrolysis, and iron-based nanocrystals with a size of tens of nanometers by helping the distribution of iron sources and preventing their aggregation. The small iron-based nanocrystals favored the growth of long CNTs connected to carbon nanosheets and the outmigration of carbon atoms during the cooling process, which led to the formation of carbon-layer encapsulated metallic iron nanoparticles between the carbon nanosheets or inside the carbon nanotubes. Benefiting from these features, the developed hybrid exhibited a significantly enhanced electrocatalytic activity and durability for the ORR. The results may open up opportunities for exploring cost-effective high-performance electrocatalysts for energy applications.

Graphical abstract: Sodium chloride-assisted green synthesis of a 3D Fe–N–C hybrid as a highly active electrocatalyst for the oxygen reduction reaction

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
25 Feb 2016
Accepted
04 Apr 2016
First published
04 Apr 2016

J. Mater. Chem. A, 2016,4, 7781-7787

Sodium chloride-assisted green synthesis of a 3D Fe–N–C hybrid as a highly active electrocatalyst for the oxygen reduction reaction

Y. Zhang, L. Huang, W. Jiang, X. Zhang, Y. Chen, Z. Wei, L. Wan and J. Hu, J. Mater. Chem. A, 2016, 4, 7781 DOI: 10.1039/C6TA01655C

To request permission to reproduce material from this article, please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

If you are an author contributing to an RSC publication, you do not need to request permission provided correct acknowledgement is given.

If you are the author of this article, you do not need to request permission to reproduce figures and diagrams provided correct acknowledgement is given. If you want to reproduce the whole article in a third-party publication (excluding your thesis/dissertation for which permission is not required) please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements