Ultrafine platinum nanoparticles supported on N,S-codoped porous carbon nanofibers as efficient multifunctional materials for noticeable oxygen reduction reaction and water splitting performance

• Main Authors: Chen, X. (Author), Liu, B. (Author), Liu, X. (Author), Lv, W. (Author), Niu, K. (Author), Wu, Y. (Author), Xue, Z. (Author), Zeng, H. (Author), Zhang, B. (Author), Zhang, Y. (Author)
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Royal Society of Chemistry 2022
• Subjects: Carbon nanofibers; Co-doped; Durability; Electrocatalysts; Electrolytic reduction; Fuel cells; Gas adsorption; Hydrogen evolution reactions; Hydrogen storage; Multi-functional materials; Nanoparticles; Oxygen; Oxygen reduction reaction; Performance; Platinum; Platinum nanoparticles; Porous carbon nanofibers; Porous materials; Ultrafine; Ultra-fines; Water splitting
• Online Access: View Fulltext in Publisher

 The design of highly active, stable and durable platinum-based electrocatalysts towards the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR), oxygen evolution reaction (OER), hydrogen evolution reaction (HER), and hydrogen adsorption has a high and urgent demand in fuel cells, water splitting and hydrogen storage. Herein, ultrafine platinum nanoparticles (Pt NPs) supported on N,S-codoped porous carbon nanofibers (Pt-N,S-pCNFs) hybrids were prepared through the electrospinning method coupled with hydrothermal and carbonation processes. The ultrafine Pt NPs are sufficiently dispersed and loaded on pCNFs and codoped with N and S, which can improve oxygen adsorption, afford more active sites, and greatly enhance electron mobility. The Pt-N,S-pCNFs hybrid achieves excellent activity and stability for ORR with ∼70 mV positive shift of onset potential compared to the commercial Pt/C-20 wt% electrocatalyst. The long-term catalytic durability with 89.5% current retention after a 10 000 s test indicates its remarkable ORR behavior. Pt-N,S-pCNFs also exhibits excellent HER and OER performance, and can be used as an efficient catalyst for water splitting. In addition, Pt-N,S-pCNFs exhibits an excellent hydrogen storage capacity of 0.76 wt% at 20 °C and 10 MPa. This work provides novel design strategies for the development of multifunctional materials as high-performance ORR catalysts, water splitting electrocatalysts and hydrogen storage materials. © The Royal Society of Chemistry