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A facile approach for constructing nitrogen-doped carbon layers over carbon nanotube surface for oxygen reduction reaction

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Abstract

Fabricating nitrogen-doped carbon layers over the conductive substrate is a cost-effective and efficient approach to develop practical oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) catalyst. In the current work, relying on the commercially available carbon nanotube (CNT), nitrogen-doped carbon layers over CNT is constructed by annealing the in situ formed complex over the CNT surface derived from iron ion inducing diaminonaphthalene (DAN) polymerization and DAN self-polymerization. Physical and electrochemical characterizations are carefully conducted to comparatively analyze the structure and activity relationship. The significance of iron in constructing nitrogen-doped carbon layers and tuning active sites of N types over multiwall carbon nanotube for ORR is demonstrated by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and Raman scattering spectrum. The excellent performance of nitrogen-doped carbon layers over CNT (catalyzed by iron) towards ORR is displayed by rotating ring-disk electrode. Specifically, the onset potential, half-wave potential, and limiting current density are 0.961 V, 0.831 V, and 5.20 mA cm−2 respectively, very close to the state-of-the-art commercial Pt/C catalyst. Both high surface area and efficient N active sites should be considered in the nitrogen-doped carbon materials design and fabrication for ORR. Considering the large-scale availability, it has significant value in fuel cells commercial applications.

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Acknowledgements

We acknowledge the technical support received at the Testing Center of Yangzhou University.

Funding

The work is supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (21603041), a project funded by the Priority Academic Program Development of Jiangsu Higher Education Institution.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou, 225002, China

    Zong Liu, Yuan Wang & Ligang Feng

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  1. Zong Liu
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  2. Yuan Wang
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  3. Ligang Feng
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Correspondence to Ligang Feng.

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The authors declare no conflict of interest.

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Liu, Z., Wang, Y. & Feng, L. A facile approach for constructing nitrogen-doped carbon layers over carbon nanotube surface for oxygen reduction reaction. J Solid State Electrochem 22, 3467–3474 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10008-018-4061-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10008-018-4061-5

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