Reduced graphene oxide-supported cobalt oxide decorated N-doped graphitic carbon for efficient bifunctional oxygen electrocatalysis

A high-performance composite bifunctional electrocatalyst for oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) and oxygen evolution reaction (OER) has been synthesized via in situ growth of a hybrid precursor of graphene oxide (GO) and cobalt-based zeolite imidazolium framework (ZIF-67) under hydrothermal condition,...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Li, Meng, Bao, Cheng, Liu, Yuting, Meng, Jing, Liu, Xia, Cai, Yongliang, Wuu, Delvin, Zong, Yun, Loh, Teck-Peng, Wang, Zhijuan
Other Authors: School of Physical and Mathematical Sciences
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: 2019
Subjects:
Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/10356/85718
http://hdl.handle.net/10220/49832
Description
Summary:A high-performance composite bifunctional electrocatalyst for oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) and oxygen evolution reaction (OER) has been synthesized via in situ growth of a hybrid precursor of graphene oxide (GO) and cobalt-based zeolite imidazolium framework (ZIF-67) under hydrothermal condition, followed by calcination at elevated temperature. The as-prepared composite bifunctional catalyst is confirmed to possess a structure of N-GC/Co@CoO/rGO, with core–shell nanoparticles of Co@CoO encapsulated in nitrogen-doped graphitic carbon (N-GC) thin layers which are then overall supported by reduced graphene oxide (rGO) sheets. With N-GC furnishing high population of ORR active sites, CoO being active for OER which is further enhanced by a highly conductive metal core, rGO sheets enhancing the overall electronic conduction, as well as the multiple synergistic couplings in the composite materials, pronounced ORR and OER catalytic activities with superior stability have been achieved. The catalysts also showed excellent tolerance to the crossover effect to methanol, showing great potential in energy-related applications requiring efficient oxygen electrocatalysis.