Bio-inspired carbon electro-catalysts for the oxygen reduction reaction  

作　　者：Kathrin Preuss Vasanth Kumar Kannuchamy Adam Marinovic Mark Isaacs Karen Wilson Isaac Abrahams Maria-Magdalena Titirici 

机构地区：[1]School of Engineering and Materials Science,Queen Mary University of London [2]Materials Research Institute,Queen Mary University of London [3]European Bioenergy Research Institute,Aston University [4]School of Biological and Chemical Sciences,Queen Mary University of London

出　　处：《Journal of Energy Chemistry》2016年第2期226-233,共8页能源化学（英文版）

基　　金：the EU for the Intra European Marie Curie Research Fellowship (PIEFGA-2013-623227)

摘　　要：We report the synthesis, characterisation and catalytic performance of two nature-inspired biomassderived electro-catalysts for the oxygen reduction reaction in fuel cells. The catalysts were prepared via pyrolysis of a real food waste（lobster shells） or by mimicking the composition of lobster shells using chitin and CaCO3 particles followed by acid washing. The simplified model of artificial lobster was prepared for better reproducibility. The calcium carbonate in both samples acts as a pore agent, creating increased surface area and pore volume, though considerably higher in artificial lobster samples due to the better homogeneity of the components. Various characterisation techniques revealed the presence of a considerable amount of hydroxyapatite left in the real lobster samples after acid washing and a low content of carbon（23%）, nitrogen and sulphur（〈1%）, limiting the surface area to 23 m^2/g, and consequently resulting in rather poor catalytic activity. However, artificial lobster samples, with a surface area of ≈200 m^2/g and a nitrogen doping of 2%, showed a promising onset potential, very similar to a commercially available platinum catalyst, with better methanol tolerance, though with lower stability in long time testing over 10,000 s.We report the synthesis, characterisation and catalytic performance of two nature-inspired biomassderived electro-catalysts for the oxygen reduction reaction in fuel cells. The catalysts were prepared via pyrolysis of a real food waste（lobster shells） or by mimicking the composition of lobster shells using chitin and CaCO3 particles followed by acid washing. The simplified model of artificial lobster was prepared for better reproducibility. The calcium carbonate in both samples acts as a pore agent, creating increased surface area and pore volume, though considerably higher in artificial lobster samples due to the better homogeneity of the components. Various characterisation techniques revealed the presence of a considerable amount of hydroxyapatite left in the real lobster samples after acid washing and a low content of carbon（23%）, nitrogen and sulphur（〈1%）, limiting the surface area to 23 m^2/g, and consequently resulting in rather poor catalytic activity. However, artificial lobster samples, with a surface area of ≈200 m^2/g and a nitrogen doping of 2%, showed a promising onset potential, very similar to a commercially available platinum catalyst, with better methanol tolerance, though with lower stability in long time testing over 10,000 s.

关 键 词：Carbonisation Biomass-derived carbons Oxygen reduction reaction Fuel cells Electro-catalysis 

分 类 号：O643.36[理学—物理化学] TM911.4[理学—化学]