Mesoporous NiCo2O4 Nanoplates on Three-Dimensional Graphene Foam as an Efficient Electrocatalyst for the Oxygen Reduction Reaction

Xili Tong; Shuai Chen; Congxiu Guo; Xinhui Xia; Xiang-Yun Guo

doi:10.1021/acsami.5b10044

Mesoporous NiCo₂O₄ Nanoplates on Three-Dimensional Graphene Foam as an Efficient Electrocatalyst for the Oxygen Reduction Reaction

ACS Appl Mater Interfaces. 2016 Oct 26;8(42):28274-28282. doi: 10.1021/acsami.5b10044. Epub 2016 Jan 21.

Authors

Xili Tong¹, Shuai Chen², Congxiu Guo¹, Xinhui Xia³, Xiang-Yun Guo¹

Affiliations

¹ State Key Laboratory of Coal Conversion, Institute of Coal Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences , Taiyuan 030001, China.
² Analytical Instrumentation Center, Institute of Coal Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences , Taiyuan 030001, China.
³ State Key Laboratory of Silicon Materials, Key Laboratory of Advanced Materials and Applications for Batteries of Zhejiang Province, and Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Zhejiang University , Hangzhou 310027, China.

PMID: 26796978
DOI: 10.1021/acsami.5b10044

Abstract

Catalysts for the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) are highly important in fuel cells and metal-air batteries. Cheap ORR catalysts with ultrahigh electrochemical activity, selectivity, and stability are extremely desirable but still remain challenging. Herein, mesoporous NiCo₂O₄ nanoplate (NP) arrays on three-dimensional (3D) graphene foam are shown to be a highly economical ORR catalyst. This mesoporous mixed-valence oxide can provide more electrocatalytic active sites with increased accessible surface area. In addition, graphene-foam-supported NiCo₂O₄ NP arrays have a 3D hierarchical porous structure, which is of great benefit to ion diffusion and electron transfer. As a result, the mesoporous NiCo₂O₄ NP arrays/graphene foam catalyst exhibits outstanding ORR performance with the four-electron reduction of O₂ to H₂O in alkaline media. Furthermore, the mesoporous catalyst shows enhanced electrocatalytic activity with a half-wave potential of 0.86 V vs RHE and better stability compared with a commercial Pt/C catalyst.

Keywords: NiCo2O4; electrocatalysis; graphene foam; mesoporous structure; oxygen reduction reaction.