Indexed by:期刊论文

Date of Publication:2019-02-01

Journal:CATALYSIS LETTERS

Included Journals:SCIE、EI

Volume:149

Issue:2

Page Number:486-495

ISSN No.:1011-372X

Key Words:Electrocatalysis; Oxygen reduction reaction; Hydrogen evolution reaction; Metal-free catalysts; Carbon nanotubes

Abstract:The oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) and hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) are two of the core reactions that occur in fuel cells and water electrolysis devices. Heteroatom-doped carbon materials are promising metal-free electrocatalysts to improve the conversion efficiency of these devices. To optimize the nanostructures of such carbon-based catalysts, herein, we reported an effective template method to synthesize N doped carbon nanotubes by using polydopamine as a precursor. The use of the ZnO nanowire not only serves as a self-sacrificial template to direct the formation of the nanotube, but also greatly extends the porosity of the carbon nanotube. Moreover, the polydopamine precursor also leads to effective N doping. An optimized sample, NCNT-900, shows high ORR performance comparable with that of Pt/C as well as good HER performance in both alkaline and acid media, making it one of the most effective carbon-based HER catalysts. This strategy offers an opportunity to synthesize catalysts with higher activity by rational design of a carbon precursor with higher N content or multi-heteroatom co-doping.
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