In Situ Coupling Strategy for the Preparation of FeCo Alloys and Co4 N Hybrid for Highly Efficient Oxygen Evolution

Xiang Zhu; Tian Jin; Chengcheng Tian; Chenbao Lu; Xiaoming Liu; Min Zeng; Xiaodong Zhuang; Shize Yang; Lin He; Honglai Liu; Sheng Dai

doi:10.1002/adma.201704091

In Situ Coupling Strategy for the Preparation of FeCo Alloys and Co₄ N Hybrid for Highly Efficient Oxygen Evolution

Adv Mater. 2017 Dec;29(47). doi: 10.1002/adma.201704091. Epub 2017 Oct 25.

Authors

Xiang Zhu¹, Tian Jin^{1

2}, Chengcheng Tian¹, Chenbao Lu³, Xiaoming Liu⁴, Min Zeng⁵, Xiaodong Zhuang³, Shize Yang⁴, Lin He⁵, Honglai Liu², Sheng Dai^{1

4}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Chemistry, The University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN, 37996, USA.
² State Key Laboratory of Chemical Engineering and School of Chemistry & Molecular Engineering, East China University of Science and Technology, Shanghai, 200237, China.
³ Shanghai Key Laboratory of Electrical Insulation and Thermal Ageing, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, 200240, China.
⁴ Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN, 37831, USA.
⁵ State Key Laboratory for Oxo Synthesis and Selective Oxidation, Suzhou Research Institute of Lanzhou Institute of Chemical Physics (LICP), LICP, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou, 730000, China.

PMID: 29068542
DOI: 10.1002/adma.201704091

Abstract

An in situ coupling approach is developed to create a new highly efficient and durable cobalt-based electrocatalyst for the oxygen evolution reaction (OER). Using a novel cyclotetramerization, a task-specific bimetallic phthalocyanine-based nanoporous organic framework is successfully built as a precursor for the carbonization synthesis of a nonprecious OER electrocatalyst. The resultant material exhibits an excellent OER activity with a low overpotential of 280 mV at a current density of 10 mA cm^-2 and high durability in an alkaline medium. This impressive result ranks among the best from known Co-based OER catalysts under the same conditions. The simultaneous installation of multiple diverse cobalt-based active sites, including FeCo alloys and Co₄ N nanoparticles, plays a critical role in achieving this promising OER performance. This innovative approach not only enables high-performance OER activity to be achieved but simultaneously provides a means to control the surface features, thereby tuning the catalytic property of the material.

Keywords: FeCo alloy nanoparticles; cobalt nitride; cyclotetramerization; in situ coupling; oxygen evolution reaction.