Efficient and durable oxygen reduction in alkaline media by doping heteroatomic boron into FeSA-NC catalyst

Wenlin Zhang; Shenghu Zhang; Peng Guo; Huilin Chen; Yuzhuo Zhou; Fengshou Yu

doi:10.1016/j.jcis.2024.05.076

Efficient and durable oxygen reduction in alkaline media by doping heteroatomic boron into Fe_SA-NC catalyst

J Colloid Interface Sci. 2024 Sep:669:896-901. doi: 10.1016/j.jcis.2024.05.076. Epub 2024 May 12.

Authors

Wenlin Zhang¹, Shenghu Zhang¹, Peng Guo¹, Huilin Chen¹, Yuzhuo Zhou¹, Fengshou Yu²

Affiliations

¹ National-Local Joint Engineering Laboratory for Energy Conservation in Chemical Process Integration and Resources Utilization, School of Chemical Engineering and Technology, Hebei University of Technology, Tianjin 300130, PR China.
² National-Local Joint Engineering Laboratory for Energy Conservation in Chemical Process Integration and Resources Utilization, School of Chemical Engineering and Technology, Hebei University of Technology, Tianjin 300130, PR China. Electronic address: yfsh@hebut.edu.cn.

PMID: 38749228
DOI: 10.1016/j.jcis.2024.05.076

Abstract

Despite extensive research has been conducted on atomic dispersion catalysts for various reactions, altering the electronic structure of the central metal to enhance electrochemical reactivity remains a challenging task. Herein, the electrochemical reactivity was considerably enhanced by introducing heteroatomic B to adjust the d-band of single Fe center. In specific, the obtained Fe_SA-BNC catalyst demonstrated an outstanding ORR performance (E_1/2 = 0.87 V) and exhibited greater long-term durability in alkaline media compared to Pt/C. The performance of Fe_SA-BNC in Zn-air battery was also higher than that of Pt/C. According to theoretical calculations, a downward shift in the d-band center of Fe was induced by introducing B, thereby improving the desorption of intermediates and facilitating the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR).

Keywords: Electronic state; Heteroatomic boron; Oxygen reduction reaction; Single-atom catalysts; Zn-air batteries.