Bimetallic-doped three-dimensional carbon skeleton porous material as efficient catalysts for oxygen reduction reaction

The slowness of the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) kinetics of the fuel cell cathode has terrifically inhibited its development process. Now it is of considerable importance to research low-cost, multi-defect, high-performance non-noble metal ORR catalysts. Specifically, CuO nanosheets are grown in situ on ZIF-8 to form a composite material (zif-8@CuO), and then undergo a high-temperature carbonization process. Finally, the Zn-Cu codoped composite material Zn-xCu-N/C with a porous structure supported by a three-dimensional carbon skeleton can be obtained. The material has a 3D carbon skeleton support and a rich pore structure, which can expose more active sites. The combination of bimetallic Zn and Cu with carbon materials also increases the overall stability and conductivity of the material, which is beneficial to improvement of catalytic performance. The electrochemical performance test results show that the onset potential and half-wave potential of the Zn-0.1Cu-N/C material are 0.889 V and 0.803 V respectively, with a low Tafel slope of 62 mV dec(-1) and excellent long-term stability. After 10000 cycles, the ORR curve only changed 18 mV, while the carbon skeleton can still maintain unchanged.