Nitrogen-boron Dipolar-doped Nanocarbon as a High-efficiency Electrocatalyst for Oxygen Reduction Reaction

• Published in: Electrochimica acta Vol. 222; no. C; pp. 481 - 487
• Main Authors: Huang, Taizhong, Mao, Shun, Qiu, Ming, Mao, Ou, Yuan, Chris, Chen, Junhong
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United Kingdom Elsevier Ltd 20.12.2016; Elsevier
• Subjects: Carbon nanotube; Electrocatalyst; Nitrogen-boron dipolar doping; Oxygen reduction reaction; Carbon nanotube; Electrocatalyst; Nitrogen-boron dipolar doping; Oxygen reduction reaction
• ISSN: 0013-4686; 1873-3859
• DOI: 10.1016/j.electacta.2016.10.201

[Display omitted] •A facile method is demonstrated for doping CNTs with nitrogen and boron.•The nitrogen and boron dipolar-doped CNT has a high catalytic activity for ORR.•The peak ORR current intensity of N,B-CNT is twice higher than that of Pt/C.•The mechanism of the dipolar-doped CNT for ORR is revealed by DFT calculations. Nitrogen-boron dipolar-doped commercial multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) were prepared and demonstrated as a high-efficiency and low-cost electrocatalyst for oxygen reduction reaction (ORR). The resulting nitrogen-boron dipolar-doped MWCNTs (N, B-CNTs) exhibit a doubled peak current density and a small negative shift in onset potential in ORR compared with the commercial Pt/C catalyst. The doped nitrogen and boron form n- and p-type active centers in the N, B-CNT, respectively, which can weaken the OO stretching and extend the OO bond length in oxygen reduction reaction. First-principles calculations reveal that the O3H− and O3H2 transitional states of oxygen are formed on the doped nitrogen and boron, which promotes the four-electron reaction in ORR.