FeN_4掺杂对富勒烯催化特性调制的第一性原理研究

因其较好的稳定性和催化活性,非金属N与金属共掺杂的富勒烯(C60)作为新型氧化还原反应(ORR)催化剂受到了人们的广泛关注.采用基于密度泛函理论的第一性原理方法系统地研究了Fe N4掺杂对C60催化特性的调制规律,揭示了O_2在Fe N4掺杂的C60上的吸附和氢化特性.结果表明:(1)O_2倾向于以side-on模式吸附在Fe的顶位上,O-O键平行于C60的球切面,与Fe形成O-Fe-O三元环结构,对应的吸附能为1.48 e V.(2)O_2的氢化反应路径可以分为两条:(i)O_2先解离为O+O,然后氢化为O+OH.O_2的解离为反应的速控步,势垒为2.82 e V.(ii)O_2先氢化形成OOH结构,然后解离.氢化为反应的速控步,势垒为2.83 e V.

O_2在FeN_4掺杂碳纳米管上氢化特性的密度泛函理论研究

因其速率快、稳定性高,非金属N与金属共掺杂的碳材料作为新型高效ORR催化剂而引起了人们的广泛关注.采用包含色散力校正的密度泛函理论方法系统地研究了氧分子在FeN_4掺杂的碳纳米管上的吸附、氢化特性.结果表明:(1)O_2倾向于以end-on模式吸附在Fe顶位,O-O键与衬底表面成一定角度,并指向五元环,对应的吸附能为1.62 e V.(2)O_2在FeN_4-CNTs上更倾向于直接氢化为OOH,然后解离为O+OH,整个路径的限速步为OOH的解离,对应的势垒为1.19 eV.

Correlating Fe source with Fe-N-C active site construction： Guidancefor rational design of high-performance ORR catalyst

Pyrolyzed Fe-Nx/C materials derived from Fe-doped ZIF-8 are recently emerged as promising alternativesto noble metal platinum-based catalysts towards oxygen reduction reaction （ORR） and elucidating the de-pendacne of Fe source on the active site structure and final ORR performance is highly desirbale for fur-ther development of these materials. Here, we designed and synthesized a series of Fe-N-C catalysts usingZIF-8 and various iron salts （Fe（acac）3, FeCI3, Fe（NO3）3） as precusors. We found that the iron precursors,mainly the molecular size, hydrolysis extent, do play a major role in determining the final morphology ofFe, namely forming the Fe-Nx coordination or Fe3C nanoparticles, as well as the site density, therefore,significantly affecting the ORR activity. Among the three iron sources, Fe（acac）3 is most advantageous tothe preferential formation of single-atom Fe-Nx active sites and the derived catalyst demonstrated bestORR performance.

Hydrogen etching induced hierarchical meso/micro-pore structure with increased active density to boost ORR performance of Fe-N-C catalyst

Rational regulation on pore structure and active site density plays critical roles in enhancing the performance of Fe-N-C catalysts. As the microporous structure of the carbon substrate is generally regarded as the active site hosts, its hostility to electron/mass transfer could lead to the incomplete fulfillment of the catalytic activity. Besides, the formation of inactive metallic Fe particles during the conventional catalyst synthesis could also decrease the active site density and complicate the identification of real active site. Herein, we developed a facial hydrogen etching methodology to yield single site Fe-N-C catalysts featured with micro/mesoporous hierarchical structure. The hydrogen concentration in pyrolysis process was designated to effectively regulate the pore structure and active site density of the resulted catalysts.The optimized sample achieves excellent ORR catalytic performance with an ultralow H2O2 yield(1%)and superb stability over 10,000 cycles. Our finding provides new thoughts for the rational design of hierarchically porous carbon-based materials and highly promising non-precious metal ORR catalysts.