Mitigating Co Metal Particle Agglomeration and Enhancing ORR Catalytic Activity through Nitrogen-Enriched Porous Carbon Derived from Biomass

• Published in: Catalysts Vol. 13; no. 7; p. 1118
• Main Authors: Wu, Yanling, Hou, Qinggao, Li, Fangzhou, Sang, Yuanhua, Hao, Mengyang, Tang, Xi, Qiu, Fangyuan, Zhang, Haijun
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Basel MDPI AG 01.07.2023
• Subjects: Activated carbon; Agglomeration; Bimetals; Biomass; biomass-derived porous carbon; Carbon; Catalysts; Catalytic activity; chemical activator; Chemical reactions; Chemical reduction; Cobalt; Economic growth; Electrocatalysts; Energy; Energy minerals; Fossil fuels; Fuel cell industry; Fuel cells; High temperature; Instrument industry; Metal particles; Metals; Morphology; Nanoparticles; Nitrogen; Noble metals; oxygen reduction reaction; Oxygen reduction reactions; Potassium; Pressure drop; Soybeans; Sustainable development; Temperature; transition metal atoms; Transition metals; Zinc; Japan; China
• ISSN: 2073-4344; 2073-4344
• DOI: 10.3390/catal13071118

Biomass-derived porous carbon has gained significant attention as a cost-effective and sustainable material in non-noble metal carbon-based electrocatalysts for the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR). However, during the preparation of transition metal catalysts based on biomass-derived porous carbon, the agglomeration of transition metal atoms often occurs, leading to a notable decline in catalytic activity. In this study, we present a straightforward synthetic approach for the preparation of nitrogen-enriched soybean-derived porous carbon (Co@SP-C-a) as an electrocatalyst for the ORR. To achieve this, we employed a two-step method. In the first step, a chemical activator (KCl) was utilized to enhance the porosity of the self-doped nitrogen biomass carbon material. In the second step, a constant pressure drop funnel technique was employed to uniformly disperse bimetal cobalt/zinc-based zeolitic imidazolium frameworks (ZIF-L and ZIF-67) containing different metal ions (Zn2+ and Co2+) into the activated biomass carbon material. Subsequent high-temperature calcination of the ZIF-L and ZIF-67@SP-C-a composite precursor yielded the Co@SP-C-a catalyst. The obtained catalyst exhibited remarkable ORR activity in an alkaline solution (Eonset = 0.89 V, E1/2 = 0.83 V, JL = −6.13 mA·cm−2) and exceptional long-term stability. This study presents an effective strategy to prevent the agglomeration of metal nanoparticles when integrating them with biomass-based carbon materials, thus leading to enhanced catalytic performance.