In Situ Construction of Bifunctional N-Doped Carbon-Anchored Co Nanoparticles for OER and ORR

Designing highly active and more durable oxygen electro-catalysts for regenerative metal-air batteries and water splitting is of practical significance. Herein, an advanced Co/N-C-800 catalyst composed of abundant Co-N-x structures and carbon defects derived from cobalt phthalocyanine is synthesized. Remarkably, this catalyst exhibits favorable catalytic performance toward the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) with a receivable overpotential of 274 mV in an alkaline medium achieving a current density of 10 mA cm(-2) and a Tafel slope of 43.6 mV decade(-1), outperforming the commercial RuO2 catalyst. It further displays a high half-wave potential (0.82 V) for the oxygen reduction reaction in 0.1 M KOH. Theoretical calculations reveal that the Co-N-x active sites along with the carbon defects can decrease the adsorption energy of intermediates (OH*, O*, and OOH*) and enhance the electron-transfer ability, thus boosting the OER process.

Automated summary

An advanced Co/N-C-800 catalyst with abundant Co-N-x structures and carbon defects has been synthesized, showing favorable catalytic performance for the oxygen evolution reaction and oxygen reduction reaction. Theoretical calculations suggest that the active sites and carbon defects of the catalyst can enhance the adsorption energy and electron-transfer ability of intermediates, thereby improving the efficiency of the oxygen evolution reaction.