Nickel and Nitrogen-Doped Bifunctional ORR and HER Electrocatalysts Derived from CO2

Nickel and Nitrogen-Doped Bifunctional ORR and HER Electrocatalysts Derived from CO2

While nonprecious metal catalysts (NPMCs) have been shown to be viable alternatives for Pt-based catalyst materials in both proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) and electrolyzers, all of the synthesis methods of these materials still have a positive carbon footprint. This means that, while t...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:ACS sustainable chemistry & engineering 2022-01, Vol.10 (1), p.134-145
Main Authors: Remmel, Anna-Liis, Ratso, Sander, Divitini, Giorgio, Danilson, Mati, Mikli, Valdek, Uibu, Mai, Aruväli, Jaan, Kruusenberg, Ivar
Format: Article
Language:eng
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Summary:While nonprecious metal catalysts (NPMCs) have been shown to be viable alternatives for Pt-based catalyst materials in both proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) and electrolyzers, all of the synthesis methods of these materials still have a positive carbon footprint. This means that, while the production of CO2 is avoided by converting to a hydrogen economy, a large amount of CO2 must be produced to drive this transition (as much as 600 kg of CO2 per kilogram of catalyst for CVD-based materials). Here, we demonstrate, for the first time, a sustainable method for synthesizing a bifunctional oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) and hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) catalyst directly from CO2 in a process that captures carbon dioxide from the atmosphere or flue gases instead of producing it as all previous methods for creating ORR/HER catalysts. The electocatalytic activity of the material is correlated to its structure and synthesis conditions by a thorough physicochemical analysis including rotating disk electrode (RDE) measurements, porosity analysis with N2 physisorption, scanning and transition electron microscopy imaging (SEM, TEM) and X-ray analysis of the materials’ crystal structure and elemental composition. The material shows promising activity and paves way for a dual approach on reducing the CO2 footprint of the energy economy.
ISSN:2168-0485
2168-0485