PUBLICATION: COLLOIDS AND SURFACES A-PHYSICOCHEMICAL AND ENGINEERING ASPECTS

AUTHORS: Liu, Z; Liu, HD; Du, HF; Zhao, ZL; Yuan, WY; Zhang, LY

 

Carbon materials are the commonly used catalyst supports for energy conversion and storage systems thanks to their high electronic conductivity and large specific surface area. Herein, hierarchical interconnected graphene oxide is synthesized using a facile thermally-induced expansion reduction approach, exhibiting a mainly direct pathway of four-electron transfer process toward oxygen reduction reaction. Compared to normal graphene oxide sheets, the hierarchical graphene oxide shows 38 mV more positive half-wave potential. It also shows remarkable methanol tolerance ability and better electrochemical stability than the commercial Pt/C. Its catalytic enhancement mechanism could be attributed to the architecture of interconnected hierarchical structure, which could offer appropriate distances for the bridge mode of oxygen adsorption. This work offers scientific insights on tailored graphene oxide nanostructures as an advanced electrocatalyst for fuel cells and beyond.

 

LINKS: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.colsurfa.2020.125719