Issue 3, 2022

Size-controlled, hollow and hierarchically porous Co2Ni2 alloy nanocubes for efficient oxygen reduction in microbial fuel cells

Abstract

Uniform, hollow-structure and hierarchically porous materials often exhibit surprisingly outstanding electrocatalytic performance. However, fabrication of highly active and stable non-noble metal-based alloys remains a huge challenge. Herein, a facile synthetic strategy that allows two-step fabrication of size-controllable Co2Ni2 hierarchical alloy nanocubes (HANCs) with a uniform composition and hollow structure is proposed. The as-fabricated Co2Ni2 HANCs exhibit an ultrahigh surface area and a hierarchical porous structure owing to co-reduction deposition of metal particles. The uniform hollow structure is produced by etching with the assistance of weak organic acids to further expand the inner space of the nanocubes. The size of the Co2Ni2 HANCs can be precisely controlled by regulating the added content of the structure-directing modulator urea with positive correlation. The Co2Ni2 HANCs possess a four-pointed star-like interior cavity and a marginal oxide layer with a thickness of 7 nm. Experimental and theoretical studies straightforwardly show that the hierarchically porous hollow Co–Ni alloy can reduce the energy barrier, accelerate the ORR kinetics, and greatly promote the improvement of electrocatalytic activity.

Graphical abstract: Size-controlled, hollow and hierarchically porous Co2Ni2 alloy nanocubes for efficient oxygen reduction in microbial fuel cells

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
31 Oct 2021
Accepted
23 Nov 2021
First published
24 Nov 2021

React. Chem. Eng., 2022,7, 653-662

Size-controlled, hollow and hierarchically porous Co2Ni2 alloy nanocubes for efficient oxygen reduction in microbial fuel cells

W. Wang, X. Wang, Y. Wang, B. Jiang and H. Song, React. Chem. Eng., 2022, 7, 653 DOI: 10.1039/D1RE00480H

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