Utility of NaMoO3F as a Precursor for Homogeneous Distribution of Cobalt Dopants in Molybdenum Oxynitrides

• Published in: Chemistry, an Asian journal an Asian journal, 2022-05, Vol.17 (10), p.n/a
• Main Authors: Asakura, Yusuke, Hasegawa, Takuya, Yin, Shu
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Catalytic activity; Chemical reduction; Chemistry; Cobalt compounds; Dopant distribution; Dopants; Mixed anion compounds; Mixed anions; Molybdenum; Molybdenum oxynitrides; NaMoO3F; Nitrides; Oxygen reduction reactions; Oxynitrides; Precursors; δ-MoN
• ISSN: 1861-4728; 1861-471X
• DOI: 10.1002/asia.202200143

Molybdenum nitrides and their related compounds have been focused as a catalyst for several reactions. Although the doping into molybdenum nitrides lead to the higher catalytic activity, the simultaneous control of the morphology, the crystallinity, and the dopant state in doped MoN cannot be easily achieved due to the limitation of the synthesis method. In this study, one of the mixed anion compounds, NaMoO3F was used as a precursor for molybdenum oxynitrides with hexagonal MoN phase. This route led to the homogeneous distribution of cobalt in the molybdenum oxynitride compared with that obtained by the other method. The cobalt‐doped molybdenum oxynitride from NaMoO3F exhibited high oxygen reduction reaction catalytic activity due to the high distribution of cobalt in the crystal. This paper proposes that the mixed anion compounds can be a unique precursor for the other materials to expand the controllability of materials toward improvement of their activity. The nitridation of a mixed anion compound, NaMoO3F, with cobalt species induced the formation of molybdenum oxynitride with homogeneous distribution of cobalt dopants. The obtained molybdenum oxynitride exhibited high oxygen reduction reaction activity.