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In situ synthesis of Co3O4 nanoparticles confined in 3D nitrogen-doped porous carbon as an efficient bifunctional oxygen electrocatalyst

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Abstract

The rational exploitation of non-precious metal catalyst with high activity, strong durability and low cost for the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) and oxygen evolution reaction (OER) is of vital importance for metal–air batteries. Herein, a composite of Co3O4 nanoparticles confined in three-dimensional (3D) N-doped porous carbon (Co-NpCs) was prepared by a simple freeze-drying and in situ pyrolysis method. The effect of different dosages of Co(NO3)2 on the catalytic performance was discussed. The Co-NpC-12% exhibits the best catalytic performance (E1/2 = 0.78 V, better stability than 20% Pt/C) in ORR and in OER among all the as-synthesized samples. Furthermore, it also exhibits the best bifunctional activity (ΔE = 0.849 V). The excellent properties of Co-NpCs are mainly due to the synergy between Co3O4 and carbon. Firstly, a high Co3O4 loading amount can boost the defect level of the N-doped hierarchical porous carbon and expose more active sites. Secondly, the unique in situ pyrolysis guarantees a large-area contact between Co3O4 and carbon as well as a strong C–O–Co bonding, which promotes charge transfer, avoids the peeling of Co3O4 nanoparticles and effectively improves the stability of the material. This work is expected to offer a feasible strategy to produce metal oxide/carbon nanocomposite and push forward the development of bifunctional electrocatalyst with high activity and stability.

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Acknowledgements

This work was financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 51871046, 51902046, 51874079, 51571054, 51771046 and 51674068), the Natural Science Foundation of Liaoning Province (No. 201602257), the Natural Science Foundation of Hebei Province (Nos. E2019501097, E2018501091 and E2020501004) and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (Nos. N182304017, N182304015, N172302001 and N172304044).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Materials Science and Engineering, Northeastern University, Shenyang, 110819, China

    Zhi-Yuan Wang, Shun-Da Jiang, Chan-Qin Duan, Dan Wang, Shao-Hua Luo & Yan-Guo Liu

  2. Key Laboratory of Dielectric and Electrolyte Functional Material-Hebei Province, Qinhuangdao, 066004, China

    Zhi-Yuan Wang & Yan-Guo Liu

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  1. Zhi-Yuan Wang
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Correspondence to Zhi-Yuan Wang or Yan-Guo Liu.

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Wang, ZY., Jiang, SD., Duan, CQ. et al. In situ synthesis of Co3O4 nanoparticles confined in 3D nitrogen-doped porous carbon as an efficient bifunctional oxygen electrocatalyst. Rare Met. 39, 1383–1394 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12598-020-01581-4

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