Bimetallic carbon nanotube encapsulated Fe-Ni catalysts from fast pyrolysis of waste plastics and their oxygen reduction properties

Ning Cai; Haiping Yang; Xiong Zhang; Sunwen Xia; Dingding Yao; Pietro Bartocci; Francesco Fantozzi; Yingquan Chen; Hanping Chen; Paul T Williams

doi:10.1016/j.wasman.2020.05.003

Bimetallic carbon nanotube encapsulated Fe-Ni catalysts from fast pyrolysis of waste plastics and their oxygen reduction properties

Waste Manag. 2020 May 15:109:119-126. doi: 10.1016/j.wasman.2020.05.003. Epub 2020 May 11.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ State Key Laboratory of Coal Combustion, School of Energy and Power Engineering, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, 430074 Wuhan, China; China-EU Institute for Clean and Renewable Energy, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, 1037 Luoyu Road, Wuhan, Hubei 430074, China.
² State Key Laboratory of Coal Combustion, School of Energy and Power Engineering, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, 430074 Wuhan, China. Electronic address: yhping2002@163.com.
³ State Key Laboratory of Coal Combustion, School of Energy and Power Engineering, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, 430074 Wuhan, China.
⁴ Department of Engineering, University of Perugia, via G. Duranti 67, 06125 Perugia, Italy.
⁵ School of Chemical and Process Engineering, University of Leeds, Leeds LS2 9JT, UK.

PMID: 32408095
DOI: 10.1016/j.wasman.2020.05.003

Abstract

Carbon-based bimetallic electrocatalysts were obtained by catalytic pyrolysis of waste plastics with Fe-Ni-based catalysts and were used as efficient oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) catalysts in this study. The prepared iron-nickel alloy nanoparticles encapsulated in oxidized carbon nanotubes (FeNi-OCNTs) are solid products with a unique structure. Moreover, the chemical composition and structural features of FeNi-OCNTs were determined. The iron-nickel alloy nanoparticles were wrapped in carbon layers, and the carbon nanotubes had an outer diameter of 20-50 nm and micron-scale lengths. FeNi-OCNT with a Fe/Ni ratio of 1:2 (FeNi-OCNT12) exhibited remarkable electrochemical performance as an ORR catalyst with a positive onset potential of 1.01 V (vs. RHE) and a half-wave potential of 0.87 V (vs. RHE), which were comparable to those of a commercial 20% Pt/C catalyst. Furthermore, FeNi-OCNT12 exhibited promising long-term stability and higher tolerance to methanol than the commercial 20% Pt/C catalyst in an alkaline medium. These properties were attributable to the protective OCNT coating of the iron-nickel alloy nanoparticles.

Keywords: Bimetallic catalysts; Carbon nanotubes; Catalytic pyrolysis; Oxygen reduction reaction; Waste plastics.

MeSH terms

Catalysis
Nanotubes, Carbon*
Oxygen
Plastics
Pyrolysis

Substances

Nanotubes, Carbon
Plastics
Oxygen