Synthesis of boron and nitrogen co-doped carbon nanofiber as efficient metal-free electrocatalyst for the VO2+/VO2+ Redox Reaction. (1st October 2015)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Shi, Lang; Liu, Suqin; He, Zhen; Yuan, Hao; Shen, Junxi
• Is Part Of: Electrochimica acta. Volume 178(2015)
• Page Start: 748
• Page End: 757
• Publication Date: 2015-10-01
• Subjects: Electrochemistry -- Periodicals; Electrochemistry, Industrial -- Periodicals; 541.37
• DOI: 10.1016/j.electacta.2015.08.026
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0013-4686

Abstract

Abstract: Boron or nitrogen mono-doped carbon nanofiber (CNF), and boron, nitrogen co-doped CNF are intentionally prepared as positive electrodes in a vanadium redox flow battery (VRFB). The structures and electrochemical properties of the materials are investigated by Scanning electron microscopy, Raman spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, cyclic voltammetry and electrochemical impendence spectroscopy. The experimental results indicate that either B or N mono-doped CNF shown better electrochemical performance than untreated one. Interestingly, for the B and N co-doped CNF, the separated case exhibited an outstanding electrochemical activity better than either B or N mono-doped case, while the bonded case leading to a sharp drop in conductivity and shown poor electrochemical performances. These results demonstrated that not the total amount of incorporated B and N but how the B and N are incorporated into carbon nanostructures determines the catalytic activity toward VO 2+ /VO2 + reaction. Moreover, the individual mechanism of the nitrogen and boron containing functional groups act as active sites have been analyzed.