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Sha Y, Moissinac F, Zhu M, Huang K, Guo H, Wang L, Liu Y, Li L, Thomas A, Liu Z. Laser Synthesis of Nonprecious Metal-Based Single-Atom Catalysts for Oxygen Reduction Reaction. ACS Appl Mater Interfaces 2023. [PMID: 37890070 DOI: 10.1021/acsami.3c09556] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/29/2023]
Abstract
Development of nonprecious metal-based single-atom catalysts (SACs) has provided opportunities to substitute Pt group metals and offer maximum atom utilization and unique coordination environments. Among these catalysts, Fe-N-C catalysts with atomically dispersed Fe-N4 active sites have emerged as some of the most promising oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) catalysts. However, furnace synthesis of Fe-N-C catalysts with carbon substrate derived from metal-organic framework (MOF) involves a high-temperature procedure, in which nitrogen from the carbonized MOF tends to be removed, subsequently leading to a low density of active sites. In this work, we developed a rapid and simple solid-state route to fabricate SACs through laser-induced thermal activation (LITA) of carbonized zeolitic imidazolate framework-8 (ZIF-8) adsorbed with Fe precursors. The results demonstrate that the laser process effectively avoids the loss of nitrogen in the nitrogen-doped carbon substrate and achieves a loading of Fe single atoms of 2.3 wt %, in comparison with that of 1.2 wt % from the conventional furnace treatment. The Fe-N-C catalyst synthesized in the study presents a half-wave potential of 0.91 V for ORR in alkaline media, which is higher than that of commercial Pt/C (0.87 V). When used as a cathode catalyst in zinc-air batteries (ZABs), the battery exhibits excellent electrochemical performance. This work also demonstrates the versatility of the technique through the successful synthesis of Co-N-C and Ni-N-C single atoms on nitrogen-doped carbon substrates.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yang Sha
- Department of Materials, School of Natural Sciences, The University of Manchester, Oxford Road, Manchester M13 9PL, U.K
| | - Francis Moissinac
- Department of Materials, School of Natural Sciences, The University of Manchester, Oxford Road, Manchester M13 9PL, U.K
| | - Menghui Zhu
- Laser Processing Research Centre, Department of Mechanical, Aerospace and Civil Engineering, School of Engineering, The University of Manchester, Oxford Road, Manchester M13 9PL, U.K
| | - Kun Huang
- National Graphene Institute, The University of Manchester, Oxford Road, Manchester M13 9PL, U.K
- Department of Chemical Engineering and Analytical Science, School of Engineering, The University of Manchester, Oxford Road, Manchester M13 9PL, U.K
| | - Hengyi Guo
- Department of Materials, School of Natural Sciences, The University of Manchester, Oxford Road, Manchester M13 9PL, U.K
| | - Lingtao Wang
- Department of Materials, School of Natural Sciences, The University of Manchester, Oxford Road, Manchester M13 9PL, U.K
| | - Yuxiang Liu
- Research Centre for Laser Extreme Manufacturing, Ningbo Institute of Materials Engineering and Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Ningbo 315201, China
| | - Lin Li
- Laser Processing Research Centre, Department of Mechanical, Aerospace and Civil Engineering, School of Engineering, The University of Manchester, Oxford Road, Manchester M13 9PL, U.K
- Research Centre for Laser Extreme Manufacturing, Ningbo Institute of Materials Engineering and Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Ningbo 315201, China
| | - Andrew Thomas
- Department of Materials, School of Natural Sciences, The University of Manchester, Oxford Road, Manchester M13 9PL, U.K
- The Photon Science Institute, The University of Manchester, Oxford Road, Manchester M13 9PL, U.K
| | - Zhu Liu
- Research Centre for Laser Extreme Manufacturing, Ningbo Institute of Materials Engineering and Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Ningbo 315201, China
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