Optimizing Oxygen Reduction Reaction through Enhanced Mesoscopic Mass Transport in Ordered Mesoporous Carbon Nanofibers

Abstract

Precious metal-free electrocatalysts often require significantly more loadings to achieve similar performance as Pt does in fuel cells and metal air batteries. The high loadings cause substantial mass transportation resistance. To address this challenge, we synthesized ordered mesoporous carbon nanofiber electrocatalyst that enables unimpeded mass transfer at mesoscale. The synthesis was based on electrospinning of supramolecular micelles, which were stretched under hydrodynamic forces and self-assembled as in oriented and ordered form. Ordered mesoporous carbon nanofibers (OMCNFs) were obtained after removing the micelle template. The aligned mesopores over electrode scale strongly accelerate diffusion kinetics. The OH⁻ ion diffusion coefficient of OMCNF is 26 times larger than that of the nanofiber with non-ordered pores (NMCNF) and 206 times larger than that of Pt/C. As a result, the electrocatalytic performance of OMCNF was maintained at increased catalyst loadings, while performance deterioration was observed in NMCNF and Pt/C. The assembled zinc-air batteries using aqueous electrolyte and solid-state electrolyte delivered high power density and nice cycling performance.

Graphical Abstract

Keywords

Triple-phase electrocatalytic reactions / Mass transfer / Carbon nanofiber / Mesoporosity / Chemical Sciences / Macromolecular and Materials Chemistry / Physical Chemistry (incl. Structural)

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Funding

National Natural Science Foundation of China(52225204)

RIGHTS & PERMISSIONS

Donghua University, Shanghai, China