N-doped graphitic carbon encapsulating cobalt nanoparticles derived from novel metal–organic frameworks for electrocatalytic oxygen evolution reaction

Nitrogen-doped carbon catalysts with hierarchical porous structure are promising oxygen evolution reaction (OER) catalysts due to the faster mass transfer and better charge carrying ability. Herein, an exquisite high nitrogen-containing ligand was designed and readily synthesized from the low-cost biomolecule adenine. Accordingly, three new MOFs (TJU-103, TJU-104 and TJU-105) were prepared using the Co(II) or Mn(II) ions as metal nodes. Through rationally controlling pyrolysis condition, in virtue of the high nitrogen content in well-defined periodic structure of the pristine MOFs, TJU-104–900 among the derived MOFs with hierarchical porous structure, i.e., N-doped graphitic carbon encapsulating homogeneously distributed cobalt nanoparticles, could be conveniently obtained. Thanks to the synergistic effect of the hierarchical structure and well dispersed active components (i.e., C=O, Co‒Nx, graphitic C and N, pyridinic N), it could exhibit an overpotential of 280 mV@10 mA/cm2 on carbon cloth for OER activity. This work provides the inspiration for fabrication of nitrogen-doped carbon/metal electrocatalysts from cost-effective and abundant biomolecules, which is promising for practical OER application. © 2023 Published by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of Chinese Chemical Society and Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences.

Keywords

Crystal doping, Graphite, Carbon, Nanoparticles, Metals, Electrocatalysts, Mass transfer, Pyrolysis, Porosity, Cobalt, Catalysts, Fossil fuels, Greenhouse effect, Energy

Citation

Tian, Y., Wu, H., Hanif, A., Niu, Y., Yin, Y., Gu, Y., Chen, Z., Gu, Q., Ng, Y. H., Shang, J., Li, L., & Liu, M. (2023). N-doped graphitic carbon encapsulating cobalt nanoparticles derived from novel metal–organic frameworks for electrocatalytic oxygen evolution reaction. Chinese Chemical Letters, 34(8), 108056. doi:10.1016/j.cclet.2022.108056