Investigation on the coordination mechanism of Pt-containing species and qualification of the alkaline content during Pt/C preparation via a solvothermal polyol method

A solvothermal assisted ethylene glycol reduction method is a common technology for Pt/C catalysts preparation. Here, the coordination mechanism of the Pt-containing species is deeply studied by innovatively adopting the ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy technology and H+ concentration detector. Moreover, the amount of Na OH that effectively coordinates Pt4+ has been tentatively qualified and the heating parameters during the preparation process of Pt/C have also been optimized. As investigated, the optimized 20-(1/22)-140-2 Pt/C(20 wt%Pt;m(Pt):m(Na OH)=1/22;heating temperature: 140 °C, heating time: 2 h) exhibits higher electrocatalytic activity towards oxygen reduction reaction(ORR) than the commercial 20 wt% Pt/C(E-TEK) in acidic media. This work provides a theoretical reserve and technical accumulation for industrialized mass production of highly efficient Pt/C catalysts for ORR in proton exchange membrane fuel cells.

N-doped carbon-coated Fe_(3)N composite as heterogeneous electro-Fenton catalyst for efficient degradation of organics

Herein,the application of a N-doped graphitic-carbon-coated iron nitride composite dispersed in a N-doped carbon framework(Fe_(3)N@NG/NC)is investigated as a heterogeneous electro-Fenton(HE-EF)catalyst for the efficient removal of organics.The simultaneous carbonization and ammonia etching of iron-based metal organic framework(Fe-MOF)materials yielded well-dispersed N-doped carbon-coated Fe_(3)N nanoparticles with a diameter of~70 nm.The Fe_(3)N and pyridinic N endowed the composite with high HE-EF activity for decomposing the electrogenerated H_(2)O_(2) to•OH.The Fe_(3)N@NG/NC exhibited outstanding HE-EF performance in removing various organic pollutants with low iron leaching.A removal rate of 97-100%could be obtained for rhodamine B(RhB),dimethyl phthalate,methylene blue,and orange Ⅱ in 120 min at a pH of 5.0.When the solution pH was set to 3.0,5.0,7.0,and 9.0,the removal rate of RhB reached 100%,96%,92%,and 81%,respectively,in 60 min at an optimum voltage of 0.0 V(vs.reversible hydrogen electrode(RHE)).Moreover,the concentration of leached iron was expected to be below 0.03 mg/L in a wide pH range of 3.0-9.0.In addition,the RhB removal efficiency remained as high as 90%after six cycles in the reusability experiments.This work highlights the MOF-derived Fe_(3)N composite as an efficient HE-EF catalyst and the corresponding catalytic mechanism,which facilitates its application in wastewater treatment.