A Pyrolysis‐Free Covalent Organic Polymer for Oxygen Reduction

Non-Precious Metal-Doped Carbon Materials Derived From Porphyrin-Based Porous Organic Polymers for Oxygen Reduction Electrocatalysis

The cathodic oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) is important in the development of renewable energy devices, to produce novel and non-precious metal catalysts with high electrocatalytic activity to reduce the consumption of non-renewable platinum (Pt) catalyst. In this work, we developed N-doped and Fe/N dual-doped porous carbons as catalysts for ORR simply by high-temperature pyrolysis of porphyrin-based conjugated microporous polymers (CMPs). By combination of heteroatom doping, highly porous structure and tubular morphology, the as-prepared carbon samples exhibited high electrocatalytic activity with 4-electron transfer mechanism, nearly close to the commercial Pt/C catalyst. In particular, among these samples, the Fe/N-CMP-1000 displayed a higher onset potential (0.95 eV), positive half-wave potential (0.85 eV) and limiting current density value (5.1 mA cm^-2 ) as well as good durability and better methanol tolerance contrasting with Pt/C catalyst, suggesting that the as-prepared metal-free catalysts from porphyrin-based CMPs show great potential for ORR.

Oxygen Reduction Activity of B←N-Containing Organic Molecule Affected by Asymmetric Regulation

Organic molecular catalysts have received great attention as they have the merits of well-controlled molecular structures for the development of catalytic chemistry. Herein, the electronic distribution of active sites is regulated by asymmetrically introducing S-heterocycle on one side of the molecular core. As a result, the asymmetric as-PYT and as-BNT show higher oxygen reduction performance than their symmetric counterparts without (s-PY, s-PY2T) or with two S-heterocycle units (s-BN, s-BN2T). Density functional theory calculations reveal that the carbon atoms (site-12) at symmetric s-BN and s-BN2T are the catalytic active sites, while for asymmetric as-BNT, it has changed to amino-N atom (site-14). Due to the non-uniform charge distribution and increased dipole moment of as-BNT caused by asymmetric molecular configuration, the kinetics of catalytic reaction has changed significantly. The catalytically active sites of specific N atoms are further verified experimentally and theoretically by using sterically hindered phenyl groups. This work provides a simple but efficient method to design metal-free oxygen reduction electrocatalysts.

Aromaticity/Antiaromaticity Effect on Activity of Transition Metal Macrocyclic Complexes towards Electrocatalytic Oxygen Reduction

The effect of the coordination sphere around metal centers on the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) activity of transition metal macrocyclic complexes is still unclear. Here, the aromaticity/antiaromaticity effect of macrocycles on ORR activity was investigated based on TM norcorrole (TM=Mn, Fe, Co, Ni), TM porphycene, and TM porphyrin by first-principle calculations. It was found that the complexes with weaker aromatic macrocycles exhibited a stronger adsorption strength while the complexes with antiaromatic macrocycles showed further enhanced adsorption strengths. Further investigations indicated that the variation in the adsorption strengths of catalysts was attributed to the different redox activities of macrocycles with different aromaticities. Such difference in redox activities of macrocycles was reflected in the activities of metal centers via d-π conjugation, which acted as a bridge between π-electrons on macrocycles and active d-electrons on metal centers. This work deepens the understanding of the role of macrocycles in oxygen electroreduction.

Weak Intermolecular Interactions in Covalent Organic Framework-Carbon Nanofiber Based Crystalline yet Flexible Devices

The redox-active and porous structural backbone of covalent organic frameworks (COFs) can facilitate high-performance electrochemical energy storage devices. However, the utilities of such 2D materials as supercapacitor electrodes in advanced self-charging power-pack systems have been obstructed due to the poor electrical conductivity and subsequent indigent performance. Herein, we report an effective strategy to enhance the electrical conductivity of COF thin sheets through the in situ solid-state inclusion of carbon nanofibers (CNF) into the COF precursor matrix. The obtained COF-CNF hybrids possess a significant intermolecular π···π interaction between COF and the graphene layers of the CNF. As a result, these COF-CNF hybrids (DqTp-CNF and DqDaTp-CNF) exhibit good electrical conductivity (0.25 × 10^-3 S cm^-1), as well as high performance in electrochemical energy storage (DqTp-CNF: 464 mF cm^-2 at 0.25 mA cm^-2). Also, the fabricated, mechanically strong quasi-solid-state supercapacitor (DqDaTp-CNF SC) delivered an ultrahigh device capacitance of 167 mF cm^-2 at 0.5 mA cm^-2. Furthermore, we integrated a monolithic photovoltaic self-charging power pack by assembling DqDaTp-CNF SC with a perovskite solar cell. The fabricated self-charging power pack delivered excellent performance in the areal capacitance (42 mF cm^-2) at 0.25 mA cm^-2 after photocharging for 300 s.