Direct pyrolysis and ultrasound assisted preparation of N, S co-doped graphene/Fe3C nanocomposite as an efficient electrocatalyst for oxygen reduction and oxygen evolution reactions

Karuppasamy Kohila Rani; Chelladurai Karuppiah; Sea-Fue Wang; Saleh O Alaswad; Pedaballi Sireesha; Rajkumar Devasenathipathy; Rajan Jose; Chun-Chen Yang

doi:10.1016/j.ultsonch.2020.105111

Direct pyrolysis and ultrasound assisted preparation of N, S co-doped graphene/Fe₃C nanocomposite as an efficient electrocatalyst for oxygen reduction and oxygen evolution reactions

Ultrason Sonochem. 2020 Sep:66:105111. doi: 10.1016/j.ultsonch.2020.105111. Epub 2020 Mar 28.

Authors

Karuppasamy Kohila Rani¹, Chelladurai Karuppiah², Sea-Fue Wang³, Saleh O Alaswad⁴, Pedaballi Sireesha¹, Rajkumar Devasenathipathy¹, Rajan Jose⁵, Chun-Chen Yang⁶

Affiliations

¹ Department of Materials and Mineral Resources Engineering, National Taipei University of Technology, No. 1, Section 3, Chung-Hsiao East Road, Taipei 106, Taiwan, ROC.
² Battery Research Center of Green Energy, Ming Chi University of Technology, New Taipei City 24301, Taiwan, ROC. Electronic address: chella1986@mail.mcut.edu.tw.
³ Department of Materials and Mineral Resources Engineering, National Taipei University of Technology, No. 1, Section 3, Chung-Hsiao East Road, Taipei 106, Taiwan, ROC. Electronic address: sfwang@ntut.edu.tw.
⁴ Nuclear Science Research Institute (NSRI), King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (KACST), P.O Box 6086, 11442 Riyad, Saudi Arabia.
⁵ Nanostructured Renewable Energy Materials Laboratory, Faculty of Industrial Sciences & Technology, Universiti Malaysia Pahang, 26300 Kuantan, Malaysia.
⁶ Battery Research Center of Green Energy, Ming Chi University of Technology, New Taipei City 24301, Taiwan, ROC; Department of Chemical Engineering, Ming Chi University of Technology, New Taipei City 24301, Taiwan, ROC; Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering, Chang Gung University, Taoyuan City 333, Taiwan, ROC. Electronic address: ccyang@mail.mcut.edu.tw.

PMID: 32248043
DOI: 10.1016/j.ultsonch.2020.105111

Abstract

Bifunctional electrocatalysts to enable efficient oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) and oxygen evolution reaction (OER) are essential for fabricating high performance metal-air batteries and fuel cells. Here, a defect rich nitrogen and sulfur co-doped graphene/iron carbide (NS-GR/Fe₃C) nanocomposite as an electrocatalyst for ORR and OER is demonstrated. An ink of NS-GR/Fe₃C is developed by homogeneously dispersing the catalyst in a Nafion containing solvent mixture using an ultrasonication bath (Model-DC150H; power - 150 W; frequency - 40 kHz). The ultrasonically prepared ink is used for preparing the electrode for electrochemical studies. In the case of ORR, the positive half-wave potential displayed by NS-GR/Fe₃C is 0.859 V (vs. RHE) and for the OER, onset potential is 1.489 V (vs. RHE) with enhanced current density. The optimized NS-GR/Fe₃C electrode exhibited excellent ORR/OER bifunctional activities, high methanol tolerance and excellent long-term cycling stability in an alkaline medium. The observed onset potential for NS-GR/Fe₃C electrocatalyst is comparable with the commercial noble metal catalyst, thereby revealing one of the best low-cost alternative air-cathode catalysts for the energy conversion and storage application.

Keywords: Electrocatalysis; Energy conversion materials; Hetero atom-doped graphene; Iron carbide nanoparticles; Oxygen reduction and evolution.