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Nano Research 2019, 12(1): 177-182 https://doi.org/10.1007/s12274-018-2199-1
Research Article | Open Access | Issue | Published: 15 October 2018

Janus electrode with simultaneous management on gas and liquid transport for boosting oxygen reduction reaction

Show Author's Information Yingjie Li1,§,  Haichuan Zhang1,§,  Nana Han1,  Yun Kuang1,  Junfeng Liu1,  Wen Liu1( ),  Haohong Duan3( ),  Xiaoming Sun1,2( )
Beijing Advanced Innovation Center for Soft Matter Science and Engineering,State Key Laboratory of Chemical Resource Engineering, Beijing University of Chemical Technology,Beijing,100029,China;
College of Energy,Beijing University of Chemical Technology,Beijing,100029,China;
Chemistry Research Laboratory, Department of Chemistry,University of Oxford, 12 Mansfield Road,12 Mansfield Road, Oxford, OX1 3TA,UK;

§ Yingjie Li and Haichuan Zhang contributed equally to this work.

Keywords:
fuel cells, oxygen reduction reaction, Janus materials, electrode, gas diffusion
Topics:
Air batteriesCarbon nanotubesCatalystsDoping (additives)Electrocatalysis ElectrodesElectrolytesElectrolytic reduction Fuel cellsMetalsOxygenPetroleum reservoirsRenewable energy resources
Cite this article:
Li Y, Zhang H, Han N, et al. Janus electrode with simultaneous management on gas and liquid transport for boosting oxygen reduction reaction. Nano Research, 2019, 12(1): 177-182. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12274-018-2199-1
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Abstract Full text Electronic supplementary material About this article

Oxygen reduction efficiency holds the key for renewable energy technologies including fuel cells and metal-air batteries, which involves coupling diffusion-reaction-conduction processes at the interface of catalyst/electrolyte, and thus rational electrode design facilitating mass transportation stands as a key issue for fast oxygen reduction reaction (ORR). Herein, we report a Janus electrode with asymmetric wettability prepared by partly modifying aerophobic nitrogen doped carbon nanotube arrays with polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) as a high performance catalytic electrode for ORR. The Janus electrode with opposite wettability on adjacent sides maintains stable gas reservoir in the aerophilic side while shortening O2 pathway to catalysts in the aerophobic side, resulting in superior ORR performance (22.5 mA/cm2 @ 0.5 V) than merely aerophilic or aerophilic electrodes. The Janus electrode endows catalytic performance even comparable to commercial Pt/C in the alkaline electrolyte, exploiting a previously unrecognized opportunity that guides electrode design for the gas-consumption electrocatalysis.


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About this article

Janus electrode with simultaneous management on gas and liquid transport for boosting oxygen reduction reaction

Show Author's information Yingjie Li1,§, Haichuan Zhang1,§, Nana Han1, Yun Kuang1, Junfeng Liu1, Wen Liu1( ), Haohong Duan3( ), Xiaoming Sun1,2( )
Beijing Advanced Innovation Center for Soft Matter Science and Engineering,State Key Laboratory of Chemical Resource Engineering, Beijing University of Chemical Technology,Beijing,100029,China;
College of Energy,Beijing University of Chemical Technology,Beijing,100029,China;
Chemistry Research Laboratory, Department of Chemistry,University of Oxford, 12 Mansfield Road,12 Mansfield Road, Oxford, OX1 3TA,UK;

§ Yingjie Li and Haichuan Zhang contributed equally to this work.

Abstract

Oxygen reduction efficiency holds the key for renewable energy technologies including fuel cells and metal-air batteries, which involves coupling diffusion-reaction-conduction processes at the interface of catalyst/electrolyte, and thus rational electrode design facilitating mass transportation stands as a key issue for fast oxygen reduction reaction (ORR). Herein, we report a Janus electrode with asymmetric wettability prepared by partly modifying aerophobic nitrogen doped carbon nanotube arrays with polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) as a high performance catalytic electrode for ORR. The Janus electrode with opposite wettability on adjacent sides maintains stable gas reservoir in the aerophilic side while shortening O2 pathway to catalysts in the aerophobic side, resulting in superior ORR performance (22.5 mA/cm2 @ 0.5 V) than merely aerophilic or aerophilic electrodes. The Janus electrode endows catalytic performance even comparable to commercial Pt/C in the alkaline electrolyte, exploiting a previously unrecognized opportunity that guides electrode design for the gas-consumption electrocatalysis.

Keywords: fuel cells, oxygen reduction reaction, Janus materials, electrode, gas diffusion

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Publication history

Received: 28 July 2018
Revised: 26 August 2018
Accepted: 04 September 2018
Published: 15 October 2018
Issue date: January 2019

Copyright

© The Author(s) 2018

Acknowledgements

Acknowledgements

We sincerely appreciate the helpful discussion with Prof. Lei Jiang. This work was financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC), the National Key Research and Development Project (No. 2016YFF0204402), the Program for Changjiang Scholars and Innovative Research Team in the University (No. IRT1205), the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities, the Long-Term Subsidy Mechanism from the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Education of PRC.

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