Rapid Controllable Synthesis of Atomically Dispersed Co on Carbon under High Voltage within One Minute

Junyi Du; Geng Wu; Kuang Liang; Jia Yang; Yida Zhang; Yue Lin; Xusheng Zheng; Zhen-Qiang Yu; Yuen Wu; Xun Hong

doi:10.1002/smll.202007264

Rapid Controllable Synthesis of Atomically Dispersed Co on Carbon under High Voltage within One Minute

Small. 2021 Feb;17(6):e2007264. doi: 10.1002/smll.202007264. Epub 2021 Jan 20.

Authors

Junyi Du^{1

2}, Geng Wu², Kuang Liang², Jia Yang^{2

3}, Yida Zhang⁴, Yue Lin², Xusheng Zheng⁴, Zhen-Qiang Yu¹, Yuen Wu², Xun Hong²

Affiliations

¹ College of Chemistry and Environmental Engineering, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, 518060, P. R. China.
² Department of Applied Chemistry, Hefei National Laboratory for Physical Sciences at the Microscale, Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemistry for Energy Materials (iChEM), University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, 230026, P. R. China.
³ Institutes of Physical Science and Information Technology, Key Laboratory of Structure and Functional Regulation of Hybrid Materials, Ministry of Education, Anhui Graphene Engineering Laboratory, Anhui University, Hefei, 230601, P. R. China.
⁴ National Synchrotron Radiation Laboratory (NSRL), University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, 230029, P. R. China.

PMID: 33470516
DOI: 10.1002/smll.202007264

Abstract

Developing a rapid and low cost approach to access atomically dispersed metal catalysts (ADMCs) supported by carbon is important but still challenging. Here, an electric flash strategy using high voltage for the rapid fabrication of carbon-supported ADMCs within 1 min is reported. Continuous plasma arc results in nitrogen-doped carbon ultrathin nanosheets, while an intermittent spark pulse constructs carbon hollow nanospheres via blasting effect, and both structures are decorated with atomically dispersed cobalt. The latter catalyst shows a half-wave potential of 0.887 V versus RHE (47 mV higher than commercial Pt/C) in an oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) in alkaline media. The authors' work paves the way to rapid synthesis of carbon-supported ADMCs at both low cost and mass production.

Keywords: carbon; cobalt; electrocatalysis; high voltage; oxygen reduction; supported catalysts.

Publication types

Review

Abstract

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