Loading…

Nickel nanocrystal/nitrogen-doped carbon composites as efficient and carbon monoxide-resistant electrocatalysts for methanol oxidation reactions

High-performance electrocatalysts for the methanol oxidation reaction (MOR) are the key to advance the application of direct methanol fuel cells. Pt-Based electrocatalysts for the MOR are limited due to their high cost, low stability and poor resistance to carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning. The develop...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Nanoscale 2020-11, Vol.12 (42), p.21687-21694
Main Authors: Wu, Na, Zhai, Meixu, Chen, Fei, Zhang, Xue, Guo, Ruihong, Hu, Tuoping, Ma, Mingming
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:High-performance electrocatalysts for the methanol oxidation reaction (MOR) are the key to advance the application of direct methanol fuel cells. Pt-Based electrocatalysts for the MOR are limited due to their high cost, low stability and poor resistance to carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning. The development of non-noble metal-based electrocatalysts for the MOR with high activity and good stability is desired, but it remains a challenge. Herein, we report a simple strategy to prepare nickel nanocrystals embedded in a nitrogen-doped carbon matrix (Ni/N-C composite) by pyrolysis of Ni-coordinated polyaniline-poly(vinyl alcohol) hydrogels. These in situ generated Ni nanocrystals serve as active electrocatalysts for the MOR, while the nitrogen-doped carbon matrix serves as a conductive support to facilitate electron transfer and also to protect the active Ni nanocrystals. The optimal Ni/N-C@500 electrocatalyst shows a high MOR activity of 147 mA cm −2 at 1.66 V vs . the RHE in alkaline methanol solution, which is outstanding among Ni-based MOR electrocatalysts. Ni/N-C@500 also shows better stability than the Pt/C catalyst in the long-term MOR test at high current densities. Upon CO poisoning, Ni/N-C@500 retains 85% of its MOR activity, far exceeding the performance of the Pt/C catalyst (61% retention). Owing to its facile synthesis, outstanding activity and high stability, the Ni/N-C@500 composite is promising as a low-cost, efficient and CO-resistant electrocatalyst for the MOR. Owing to its facile synthesis, outstanding activity and high stability, Ni/N-C@500 composite is promising as a low-cost, efficient and CO-resistant electrocatalyst for methanol oxidation reaction (MOR).
ISSN:2040-3364
2040-3372
DOI:10.1039/d0nr04822d