Journal Article

Interfacial Electron Distribution of Co Nanoparticles Supported on N‐Doped Mesoporous Hollow Carbon Spheres Endows Highly Efficient ORR, OER, and HER

Wang, Weitao, Yang, Zhenfeng, Diao, Jinxiang, Qiu, Yu, Chao, Tingting, Xu, Ruixin, Chen, Kai, Li, Xiaolin, Wang, Shuya, Guo, Xiaohui, Qu, Yunteng

2023

Overview

The tailoring of the charge transfer between support material and transition metal active phase is an effective strategy for fine tuning the electronic structure of the catalyst active site, and hence improving the activity and stability of the reaction. This works presents that Co nanoparticles supported on N‐doped mesoporous hollow carbon nanospheres (Co/NMHCS) decouple the effect of electronic structure on catalytic performance. The detailed experimental and theoretical results reveal the charge distribution at the Co/NMHCS interface due to N‐doped MHCS. With tuning the electron redistribution, the interface between Co nanoparticles and NMHCS as the active site shows the strong capability to adsorb and reduce the OOH* and proton, thus leading to the optimal ORR, OER, and HER activity in Co/NMHCS. Furthermore, Co/NMHCS‐based Zn–air battery exhibits high power density of 185 mW cm−2, and high gravimetric energy density of 753 mAh gZn−1. Density functional theory (DFT) reveals the electrons accumulate directly on the NMHCS support, which originates from an interplay between Co nanoparticles and the NMHCS support. This work provides constructive guidance for precisely regulating the interface electronic structures to achieve excellent electrocatalytic performance. Interfacial electron distribution Co nanoparticles supported on N‐doped mesoporous for ORR, OER, and HER via pre‐precipitation method followed by thermal treatment strategy is investigated. Such Co nanoparticles supported on N‐doped mesoporous catalysts also exhibit remarkable performance for Zn–air batteries and overall water splitting. This work paves a new way for constructing electrocatalysts in electrochemical energy devices.

• Publisher: John Wiley & Sons, Inc,Wiley-VCH
• Subject: Carbon / Charge distribution / Charge materials / Charge transfer / Cobalt / Density functional theory / electrocatalysis / Electron distribution / Electronic structure / Electrons / interfacial electron distribution / Metal air batteries / Nanoparticles / Nanospheres / N‐doped mesoporous hollow carbon spheres / Transition metals / water splitting / Zinc-oxygen batteries / Zn–air batteries