Monday, 14 May 2018
Ballroom 6ABC (Washington State Convention Center)
Highly efficient noble metal-free bifunctional catalysts for expediting the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) and oxygen evolution reaction (OER) in metal-air batteries or fuel cells are still challenging and imperative. In this work, we report a facile and scalable method for syntheizing three dimensional (3D) N/Co co-doped macroporous carbon interconnecting with in-situ growth carbon nanotubes (CNTs). The as-synthesized material exhibits great electrocatalytic performance for ORR with an onset potential of 0.901V vs.RHE as well as high limited current density of 4.83 mA/cm2 in alkaline electrolyte under a rotation speed of 1600 rpm at 5 mV/s. Furthermore, this 3D porous carbon also shows good electrocatalytic performance for OER in alkaline electrolyte. This high electrocatalytic performance is mianly attributed to its large specific surface area, high conductive CNTs and synergistic effect between Co active species and carbon framework. The result of a two-electrode Zn-air battery based on this carbon material achieves a peak density of 163 mW/cm2 at the voltage of 0.63 vindicates the great potential of the catalyst for battery application.