Metal coordination in C2N-like materials towards dual atom catalysts for oxygen reduction

DOI: 10.1039/D1TA09560A

Authors: Jesus Barrio (Imperial College London) , Angus Pedersen (Imperial College London) , Jingyu Feng (Imperial College London) , Saurav Ch. Sarma (Imperial College London) , Mengnan Wang (Imperial College London) , Alain Y. Li (Imperial College London) , Hossein Yadegari (Imperial College London) , Hui Luo (Imperial College London) , Mary P. Ryan (Imperial College London) , Maria-Magdalena Titirici (Imperial College London) , Ifan E. L. Stephens (Imperial College London)
Co-authored by industrial partner: No

Type: Journal Paper
Journal: Journal Of Materials Chemistry A , VOL 120

State: Published (Approved)
Published: February 2022
Diamond Proposal Number(s): 28663 , 28698

Abstract: Single-atom catalysts, in particular the Fe–N–C family of materials, have emerged as a promising alternative to platinum group metals in fuel cells as catalysts for the oxygen reduction reaction. Numerous theoretical studies have suggested that dual atom catalysts can appreciably accelerate catalytic reactions; nevertheless, the synthesis of these materials is highly challenging owing to metal atom clustering and aggregation into nanoparticles during high temperature synthesis treatment. In this work, dual metal atom catalysts are prepared by controlled post synthetic metal-coordination in a C2N-like material. The configuration of the active sites was confirmed by means of X-ray adsorption spectroscopy and scanning transmission electron microscopy. During oxygen reduction, the catalyst exhibited an activity of 2.4 ± 0.3 A gcarbon−1 at 0.8 V versus a reversible hydrogen electrode in acidic media, comparable to the most active in the literature. This work provides a novel approach for the targeted synthesis of catalysts containing dual metal sites in electrocatalysis.

Diamond Keywords: Fuel Cells

Subject Areas: Materials, Chemistry, Energy

Diamond Offline Facilities: Electron Physical Sciences Imaging Centre (ePSIC)
Instruments: E01-JEM ARM 200CF , I20-EDE-Energy Dispersive EXAFS (EDE)

Added On: 15/02/2022 09:50

Documents:
d1ta09560a.pdf

Discipline Tags:

Earth Sciences & Environment Sustainable Energy Systems Energy Climate Change Physical Chemistry Catalysis Chemistry Materials Science

Technical Tags:

Spectroscopy X-ray Absorption Spectroscopy (XAS) Extended X-ray Absorption Fine Structure (EXAFS)