Oxygen reduction reaction activity of an iron phthalocyanine/graphene oxide nanocomposite

Kenichiro Irisa; Kazuto Hatakeyama; Soichiro Yoshimoto; Michio Koinuma; Shintaro Ida

doi:10.1039/d1ra01001h

Oxygen reduction reaction activity of an iron phthalocyanine/graphene oxide nanocomposite

RSC Adv. 2021 Apr 29;11(26):15927-15932. doi: 10.1039/d1ra01001h. eCollection 2021 Apr 26.

Authors

Kenichiro Irisa¹, Kazuto Hatakeyama², Soichiro Yoshimoto², Michio Koinuma², Shintaro Ida²

Affiliations

¹ Graduate School of Science and Technology, Kumamoto University 2-39-1 Kurokami, Chuo-ku Kumamoto 860-8555 Japan.
² Institute of Industrial Nanomaterials (IINa), Kumamoto University 2-39-1 Kurokami, Chuo-ku Kumamoto 860-8555 Japan ida-s@kumamoto-u.ac.jp.

Abstract

Electrocatalysts with metal-nitrogen-carbon (M-N-C) sites have recently attracted much attention as potential catalysts for the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR), and a hybrid of iron phthalocyanine (FePc) and reduced graphene oxide (rGO) is one of the promising candidates. Herein, a FePc/GO nanocomposite was synthesized by electrostatic deposition on the electrode. The electrochemically reduced FePc/GO nanocomposite (ER(FePc/GO)) contained Fe²⁺ centers in well reduced graphene sites without agglomeration. The ER(FePc/GO) exhibited high ORR activity with an ORR onset (E _onset) and half-wave potential (E _1/2) of 0.97 and 0.86 V, respectively. Furthermore, the ORR activity successfully improved by adding an electrolyte such as KCl or KNO₃. The small H₂O₂ yield of 2%, superior tolerance to methanol addition and high-durability indicate that the ER(FePc/GO) is a promising electrocatalyst. Theoretical studies, indicating that the presence of Cl^- and NO₃ ^- ions lowered the conversion energy barrier, strongly supported the experimental results.