Standing Carbon-Supported Trace Levels of Metal Derived from Covalent Organic Framework for Electrocatalysis

Single atom catalysts (SACs) are receiving increasing interests due to their high theoretical catalytic efficiency and intriguing physiochemical properties. However, most of the synthetic methodologies involve high-temperature treatment. This usually leads to limited control over the spatial distribution of metal sites and collapse of porous network that result in limited active site exposure. A strategy to construct SAC by using a covalent organic framework as the precursor is reported in this study. The as-prepared catalyst is mainly composed of standing carbon layers with the presence of edge-site hosted metal single atoms. Such structure configuration not only allows full site exposure but also endows the metal site with high intrinsic activity. With a trace amount of cobalt loading (0.17 wt%), the nanorice-shaped catalyst displays promising electrochemical activities toward catalyzing the oxygen reduction reaction in both alkaline and acidic medium. An ultrahigh mass activity of 838 A g(Co)(-1) at 0.9 V is achieved in the acidic electrolyte. This work suggests a new route to design SACs based on covalent organic framework for energy storage and conversion devices.