Co2C or Co4N nanoparticles as an efficient and durable fuel cell catalyst for oxygen reduction

What is it about?

Research on catalysis for fuel cells is extremely important to enhance the sluggish oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) using heterogeneous catalyst materials. In this work, cobalt carbide (Co2C) and cobalt nitride (Co4N) nanoparticles were intercalated with reduced graphene oxide (rGO) sheets through heteroatom doping and utilized for the ORR in alkaline fuel cells, in which rGO acted as a catalyst support. Cyclic voltammetry results indicated that the ORR half-wave potentials of Co2C/rGO and Co4N/rGO were found to be
0.095 V and
0.118 V, respectively. Chronoamperometric studies revealed the excellent catalytic stability of the prepared catalysts. The reaction kinetics study showed that Co2C/rGO and Co4N/rGO pursued a 4e
(four electron) oxygen reduction process. The catalytic activity and stability in alkaline electrolyte indicated that Co2C/rGO and Co4N/rGO have great potential as alternatives to precious metal-based catalysts.

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Why is it important?

The demand for non-precious, low-cost and highly durable electrocatalysts to improve the ORR kinetics and catalytic stability is urgent. Carbon-based materials like graphene, fullerenes, activated carbon, etc., are used for electrocatalysis. For the past decade, graphene-related research has been encouraged more, because of its high conductivity, mechanical strength, large surface area, chemical stability, etc. At the same time, heteroatom-doped carbon materials are considered as potential alternatives for Pt towards the ORR.

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