Advanced bifunctional electrocatalyst generated through cobalt phthalocyanine tetrasulfonate intercalated Ni2Fe-layered double hydroxides for a laminar flow unitized regenerative micro-cell

We fabricated a NiFeOx/CoNy-C nanocomposite derived from CoPcTs-intercalated Ni2Fe-layered double hydroxides (Ni2Fe-CoPcTs-LDH), which served as high-efficiency, low-cost, and long-durability bifunctional oxygen electrocatalyst in half-cell, and a H-2-O-2 laminar flow unitized regenerative micro-cell (LFURMC) in alkaline media. Based on the synergistic effect between Co-N-y and NiFeOx centers, the non-noble hybrid catalyst NiFeOx/CoNy-C achieves a Delta E (eta@jOER,10 - eta@jORR,-3) = 0.84 V in alkaline solution, outperforming the commercial Pt/C, and very close to that of IrOx/C. In the fuel cell mode, the performance of NiFeOx/CoNy-C with the maximum power density of 56 mW cm(-2) is similar to that of Pt/C (63 mW cm(-2)) and IrOx/C (58 mW cm(-2)); in the electrolysis mode, the calculated maximum electrical power consumed on NiFeOx/CoNy-C (237 mW cm(-2)) is more than 3 times that on Pt/C (73 mW cm(-2)), similar with that of IrOx/C. More importantly, the NiFeOx/CoNy-C shows a remarkable stability in alternating modes in a LFURMC system. (C) 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.