摘要
Aniline,pyrrole and phenanthroline,which have different nitrogen compositions,are used as carbon precursors to synthesize nitrogen-doped ordered mesoporous carbons(NOMCs) by the nanocasting method.The effect of the precursor on the resultant NOMC is extensively investigated by nitrogen adsorption-desorption measurements,scanning electron microscopy,X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy(XPS),cyclic voltammetry and rotating ring-disk electrode measurements.Salient findings are as follows.First,the precursor has a significant influence on the specific surface area and textural properties.The NOMC materials derived from pyrrole(C-PY-900:765 m^2/) and phenanthroline(C-Phen-900:746 m^2/) exhibit higher specific surface areas than the aniline analog(C-PA-900:569 m^2/).Second,the XPS results indicate that the total nitrogen content(ca.3.1–3.3 at%) is similar for the three carbon sources,except for a slight difference in the nitrogen configuration.Furthermore,the content of the nitrogen-activated carbon atoms is found to closely depend on the precursor,which is the highest for the phenanthroline-derived carbon.Third,the electrochemical results reveal that the electrocatalytic activity follows in the order C-PA-900 C-PY-900 C-Phen-900,confirming that the nitrogen-activated carbon atoms are the active sites for the oxygen reduction reaction(ORR).In summary,the precursor has considerable influence on the composition and textural properties of the NOMC materials,of which the ORR electrocatalytic activity can be enhanced through optimization of the NOMCs.
燃料电池中贵金属铂的大量使用是阻碍其发展的关键因素,亟需探索高效廉价的替代型电催化剂.在目前的替代型非贵金属催化剂研究中,氮杂炭材料是一类氧还原反应催化活性最好、成本最低廉的催化剂,被认为是最有可能取代Pt催化剂而获得实际应用的催化剂.氮杂有序介孔炭材料因具有极高的比表面积和规整的孔道结构,可实现活性位点的密集组装与反应物料的快速传输,受到研究者的广泛关注.本文分别以苯胺、吡咯和邻菲罗啉为含氮前驱体,介孔分子筛SBA-15为硬模板,采用纳米浇铸法成功制备了具有高比表面积的氮杂有序介孔炭材料,系统研究了不同含氮前驱体对氮杂有序介孔炭材料的影响.采用氮气吸附-脱附等温线、透射电子显微镜(TEM)、X射线衍射(XRD)和X射线光电子能谱(XPS)等方法研究了氮杂有序介孔炭的组成与结构,采用循环伏安法(CV)以及线性扫描伏安法(LSV)等手段考察了其电化学行为与氧还原反应极化性能.氮气吸附-脱附等温线结果表明,采用三种不同含氮前驱体制备的氮杂炭材料都对应IV型吸脱附等温线以及H4型滞后环,表明所制备的氮杂炭材料具有介孔结构.由TEM可以清楚地观察到氮杂炭材料已经成功地反转了SBA-15模板的孔道结构.同时发现,含氮前驱体对氮杂炭材料的比表面积和孔结构产生较大影响:以吡咯和邻菲罗啉为前驱体制备的炭材料C-PY-900和C-Phen-900的比表面积较高,分别为765和746 m^2/,而以苯胺为前驱体制备的炭材料C-PA-900比表面积较小(569 m^2/);三种炭材料平均孔径大小顺序为C-Phen-900(3.7 nm)<C-PY-900(5.0 nm)<C-PA-900(5.9 nm),这是由于不同含氮前驱体在高温焙烧过程中热分解行为不同所致.XRD结果发现,含氮前驱体对氮杂炭材料的晶型基本没有影响,均为无定形碳.XPS结果表明,采用苯胺、吡咯以及林菲啰啉为前驱体制备的氮杂炭材料中氮含量基本相同,分别为3.13 at%,3.32 at%和3.33 at%,说明在相同热解条件下材料中的氮含量基本不受前驱体的影响,但不同配位环境的氮含量以及氮活化碳原子的含量却有较大差异,其氮活化碳原子的相对含量分别为15.60%,19.87%和23.04%.电化学测试结果表明,三种氮杂介孔炭材料的氧还原反应电催化活性顺序为C-PA-900<C-PY-900<C-Phen-900,其H_2O2产率低于30%,说明氧还原反应经历4电子转移路径.在碱性条件下,所制氮杂有序介孔炭材料C-PY-900和C-Phen-900表现出较商品Pt/C催化剂更加优异的氧还原反应电催化性能.综上可见,通过改变含氮前驱体的类型可以有效调变氮杂炭材料的比表面积、孔道结构以及N 1s与C 1s化学态,从而调控氧还原反应活性.本文不仅制备出高活性的非贵金属氧还原电催化剂,同时也为高活性炭基电催化剂的可控制备提供了思路.
基金
supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(21476087,21576101)
the Innovation Project of Guangdong Department of Education(2014KTSCX016)
the Science&Technology Research Project of Guangdong Province(2013B010405005,2014A010105041)
the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities~~