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Preparation of self-nitrogen-doped porous carbon nanofibers and their supported PtPd alloy catalysts for oxygen reduction reaction

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Abstract

There are many types of cathodic oxygen reduction catalysts for proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC). Among them, Pt-based catalysts are most likely to be industrialized because of their incomparable high activity. However, most of the Pt-based catalysts have not reached the maximum activity and stability. Herein, porous carbon nanofibers (p-CNF) with self-nitrogen-doped as catalyst supports were successfully prepared by the method of electrospinning. After functionalization, the functionalized porous carbon nanofibers (f-p-CNF) were loaded with PtPd alloy nanoparticles to obtain the catalyst (Pt0.66Pd0.33/f-p-CNF), which has excellent electrochemical performance. Its specific activities (SA) and Pt mass activities (Pt MA) are 1.73 and 1.86 times of the commercial JM 20% Pt/C (JM20), respectively. The results can be attributed to the porous structure of nanofibers, which not only facilitate the transmission of gas-liquid and electron but also increase the exposure of active sites. And the doped nitrogen of fibers may regulate the electronic structure of the metal active substance to increase the activity. This work provides catalyst with novel structure which could enable PEMFCs to be more efficient in operation.

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Funding

The authors give great thanks for financial support from the National Key Research and Development Program of China (No.2016Y FB0101310).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Powder Metallurgy & Science and Technology on High Strength Structural Materials Laboratory, Central South University, 932 Lushan Road, Changsha, 410083, People’s Republic of China

    Zhenqin Li, Xiaoting Deng, Haikun Zhou, Wei Xuan & Zhiyong Xie

  2. Sino-Precious Metals Holding Co., Ltd., No, 988, Keji Road High-tech Zone, Kunming, Yunnan, China

    Feng Liu

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  1. Zhenqin Li
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  2. Xiaoting Deng
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  3. Haikun Zhou
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  4. Wei Xuan
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  5. Zhiyong Xie
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  6. Feng Liu
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Correspondence to Zhiyong Xie.

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Li, Z., Deng, X., Zhou, H. et al. Preparation of self-nitrogen-doped porous carbon nanofibers and their supported PtPd alloy catalysts for oxygen reduction reaction. J Solid State Electrochem 24, 195–206 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10008-019-04474-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10008-019-04474-4

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