Breakthrough in preparation of non-metallic carbon-based catalysts

Recently, researchers from Tianjin University of Technology, Peking University, and the Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences have collaborated to make breakthroughs in the preparation of non-metallic carbon-based catalysts and oxygen reduction reactions (ORR). Three-dimensional carbon foam with sp3 carbon coexisting and nitrogen doping.

 

The results of this study show that the three-dimensional carbon foam not only shows excellent catalytic activity, but also has better peak potential, half-wave potential, and Tafel slope than commercial Pt / C catalysts. At the same time, using this three-dimensional carbon foam as a cathode catalyst to assemble a zinc-air electrode, the power density of the battery can reach up to 222.0MW / cm2, and it shows good stability in performance tests up to 100 hours.

 

In addition, the researchers also confirmed through theoretical calculations that the nitrogen atoms at the sp3 carbon and sp2 carbon interfaces have a decisive effect on the oxygen reduction performance of carbon materials. This work not only opens up new ideas and methods for the synthesis and catalytic application of carbon materials, but also confirms that the design and controllable synthesis of carbon materials can be achieved at the molecular level.

 

The development of new energy conversion technologies and clean energy is vital to China's energy supply and environmental protection. Oxygen reduction reaction is an electrode reaction in fuel cells and metal-air batteries. The catalyst plays a key role in improving electrode reaction performance and battery performance. However, the research on oxygen reduction catalysts is mainly focused on Pt-based catalysts, which are costly and severely limit their large-scale applications.

 

In recent years, carbon-based catalysts have attracted attention as a low-cost and high-efficiency catalyst. However, research on the preparation and application of carbon-based catalysts is mainly focused on sp2 carbon, such as graphene. However, due to the low catalytic activity, high temperature stability and poor conductivity, sp3 carbon has rarely been reported in terms of catalysis.