Synergistic Dual-Atom Molecular Catalyst Derived from Low-Temperature Pyrolyzed Heterobimetallic Macrocycle-N4 Corrole Complex for Oxygen Reduction

Citation:
Samireddi, S, Aishwarya V, Shown I, Muthusamy S, Unni SM, Wong K-T, Chen K-H, Chen L-C.  2021.  Synergistic Dual-Atom Molecular Catalyst Derived from Low-Temperature Pyrolyzed Heterobimetallic Macrocycle-N4 Corrole Complex for Oxygen Reduction. Small. 17:2103823., Number 46

Abstract:

Abstract A heterobimetallic corrole complex, comprising oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) active non-precious metals Co and Fe with a corrole-N4 center (PhFCC), is successfully synthesized and used to prepare a dual-atom molecular catalyst (DAMC) through subsequent low-temperature pyrolysis. This low-temperature pyrolyzed electrocatalyst exhibited impressive ORR performance, with onset potentials of 0.86 and 0.94 V, and half-wave potentials of 0.75 and 0.85 V, under acidic and basic conditions, respectively. During potential cycling, this DAMC displayed half-wave potential losses of only 25 and 5 mV under acidic and alkaline conditions after 3000 cycles, respectively, demonstrating its excellent stability. Single-cell Nafion-based proton exchange membrane fuel cell performance using this DAMC as the cathode catalyst showed a maximum power density of 225 mW cm−2, almost close to that of most metal–N4 macrocycle-based catalysts. The present study showed that preservation of the defined CoN4 structure along with the cocatalytic Fe–Cx site synergistically acted as a dual ORR active center to boost overall ORR performance. The development of DAMC from a heterobimetallic CoN4-macrocyclic system using low-temperature pyrolysis is also advantageous for practical applications.

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