• 文献标题:   Synergistic increase of oxygen reduction favourable Fe-N coordination structures in a ternary hybrid of carbon nanospheres/carbon nanotubes/graphene sheets
  • 文献类型:   Article
  • 作  者:   ZHANG SM, LIU B, CHEN SL
  • 作者关键词:  
  • 出版物名称:   PHYSICAL CHEMISTRY CHEMICAL PHYSICS
  • ISSN:   1463-9076 EI 1463-9084
  • 通讯作者地址:   Nanyang Technol Univ
  • 被引频次:   33
  • DOI:   10.1039/c3cp53760a
  • 出版年:   2013

▎ 摘  要

A Fe/N co-doped ternary nanocarbon hybrid, with uniform bamboo-like carbon nanotubes (CNTs) in situ grown on/between the single/few-layer graphene sheets interspaced by carbon nanosphere aggregates, was prepared through a one-pot heat treatment of a precursor mixture containing graphene oxide, Vulcan XC-72 carbon nanospheres, nitrogen rich melamine and small amounts of Fe ions. Physical characterization including electron microscopic images, N-2 adsorption-desorption isotherms, pore size distribution, XPS, XRD, Mossbauer spectra, and EDX revealed that the 0-D/1-D/2-D ternary hybrid architecture not only offered an optimized morphology for high dispersion of each nanocarbon moiety, while the carbon nanosphere interspaced graphene sheets have provided a platform for efficient reaction between Fe ions and melamine molecules, resulting in uniform nucleation and growth of CNTs and formation of high density Fe-N coordination assemblies that have been believed to be the active centers for the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) in carbon-based nonprecious metal electrocatalysts. In the absence of graphene oxides or carbon nanospheres, a similar heat treatment was found to result in large amounts of elemental Fe and Fe carbides and entangled CNTs with wide diameter distributions. As a result, the ternary Fe/N-doped nanocarbon hybrid exhibits ORR activity much higher than the Fe-N doped single or binary nanocarbon materials prepared under similar heat treatment conditions, and approaching that of the state-of-the-art carbon-supported platinum catalyst (Pt/C) in acidic media, as well as superior stability and methanol tolerance to Pt/C.