Graphene Oxide Sheathed ZIF‑8 Microcrystals: Engineered Precursors of Nitrogen-Doped Porous Carbon for Efficient Oxygen Reduction Reaction (ORR) Electrocatalysis

• Published in: ACS applied materials & interfaces Vol. 8; no. 43; pp. 29373 - 29382
• Main Authors: Thomas, Minju, Illathvalappil, Rajith, Kurungot, Sreekumar, Nair, Balagopal N, Mohamed, Abdul Azeez Peer, Anilkumar, Gopinathan M, Yamaguchi, Takeo, Hareesh, U. S
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States American Chemical Society 02-11-2016
• Subjects: graphene oxide; porous carbon; N-doped carbon; ZIF-8; oxygen reduction reaction; alkaline fuel cell
• ISSN: 1944-8244; 1944-8252
• DOI: 10.1021/acsami.6b06979

Nitrogen containing mesoporous carbon obtained by the pyrolysis of graphene oxide (GO) wrapped ZIF-8 (Zeolitic Imidazolate Frameworks-8) micro crystals is demonstrated to be an efficient catalyst for the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR). ZIF-8 synthesis in the presence of GO sheets helped to realize layers of graphene oxide over ZIF-8 microcrystals and the sphere-like structures thus obtained, on heat treatment, transformed to highly porous carbon with a nitrogen content of about 6.12% and surface area of 502 m2/g. These catalysts with a typical micromeso porous architecture exhibited an onset potential of 0.88Vvs RHE in a four electron pathway and also demonstrated superior durability in alkaline medium compared to that of the commercial Pt/C catalyst. The N-doped porous carbon derived from GO sheathed ZIF-8 core–shell structures could therefore be employed as an efficient electrocatalyst for fuel cell applications.