The Influence of Heteroatom Dopants Nitrogen, Boron, Sulfur, and Phosphorus on Carbon Electrocatalysts for the Oxygen Reduction Reaction. Issue 5 (4th April 2019)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Preuss, Kathrin; Siwoniku, Adaeze M.; Bucur, Cristina I.; Titirici, Maria‐Magdalena
• Is Part Of: ChemPlusChem. Volume 84:Issue 5(2019)
• Page Start: 457
• Page End: 464
• Publication Date: 2019-04-04
• Subjects: carbon -- electrocatalysts -- fuel cells -- metal-free doping -- oxygen reduction reaction; Chemistry -- Periodicals; 540.5
• DOI: 10.1002/cplu.201900083
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 2192-6506

Abstract

Abstract: A hard templating method, using SBA‐15 in combination with glucose solution and different heteroatom precursors, has been employed to investigate the influence of the different heteroatom dopants nitrogen, boron, sulfur, and phosphorus on carbon electrocatalysts for the oxygen reduction reaction. Samples were synthesized under the same conditions and resulted in a similar morphology and surface areas around 1000 m 2 /g. Incorporating nitrogen into the carbon matrix was found to be easier than for boron or phosphorus, while sulfur doping proved problematic and only yielded 2 at% of sulfur or less. Different dopant concentrations as well as a combination of dopants suggested that nitrogen was the only heteroatom exerting an actual influence on the catalytic activity, resulting in higher electron transfer numbers. The other dopants exhibited a similar performance regardless of the dopant content, though slightly improved when compared to an undoped control sample. These findings indicate that incorporated nitrogen can act as catalytic sites, while boron, sulfur and phosphorus can enhance the catalytic activity by possibly creating defects in the carbon matrix. Abstract : Successful doping : Synthesis of differently heteroatom doped carbons through a hard templating approach revealed that only nitrogen doping has a true influence on the oxygen reduction reaction, whereas other dopants, such as boron, sulfur or phosphorus only seem to aid as defects within the carbon matrix.