title: The Oxygen Reduction Electrocatalytic Activity of Cobalt and Nitrogen Co-doped Carbon Nanocatalyst Synthesized by a Flat Template.
abstract: The design of noble-metal-free catalysts for oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) is very important to the commercialization of fuel cells. Here, we use a Co-modified montmorillonite (Co-MMT) as a flat template to prepare Co- and N-doped nanocarbon ORR catalysts derived from carbonization of polyaniline at controlled temperatures. The use of flat template can hinder the agglomeration of polyaniline during pyrolysis process and optimize the N-rich active site density on the surface. The addition of transition metal Co in the flat MMT template can largely promote the formation of Co-N sites in prepared catalyst, facilitating the effective improvement of catalytic activity towards the ORR with a direct four-electron transfer pathway. The excellent ORR activity may be mainly attributed to high contents of graphitic N, pyridinic-N, and Co-N configurations. This study opens a new way to rationally design cheap and active ORR catalysts by using simple flat compound as a direct template.
authors.affiliation: Research Institute for New Materials Technology, School of Materials and Chemical Engineering, Chongqing University of Arts and Sciences, Chongqing, 402160, China. guochaozhong1987@163.com.
authors.forename: Chaozhong
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Guo
authors.affiliation: Research Institute for New Materials Technology, School of Materials and Chemical Engineering, Chongqing University of Arts and Sciences, Chongqing, 402160, China.
authors.forename: Youcheng
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: Research Institute for New Materials Technology, School of Materials and Chemical Engineering, Chongqing University of Arts and Sciences, Chongqing, 402160, China.
authors.forename: Zhongbin
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Research Institute for New Materials Technology, School of Materials and Chemical Engineering, Chongqing University of Arts and Sciences, Chongqing, 402160, China. liaowenli@cqwu.net.
authors.forename: Wenli
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Liao
authors.affiliation: Research Institute for New Materials Technology, School of Materials and Chemical Engineering, Chongqing University of Arts and Sciences, Chongqing, 402160, China.
authors.forename: Lingtao
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.affiliation: Research Institute for New Materials Technology, School of Materials and Chemical Engineering, Chongqing University of Arts and Sciences, Chongqing, 402160, China.
authors.forename: Chao
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Research Institute for New Materials Technology, School of Materials and Chemical Engineering, Chongqing University of Arts and Sciences, Chongqing, 402160, China.
authors.forename: Bixia
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Wen
authors.affiliation: Research Institute for New Materials Technology, School of Materials and Chemical Engineering, Chongqing University of Arts and Sciences, Chongqing, 402160, China.
authors.forename: Yanrong
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Chongqing University, Chongqing, 400044, China. cgchen@cqu.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Changguo
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Chen
keywords: Catalyst; Montmorillonite; Oxygen reduction; Polyaniline