Department of Applied Chemistry, University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-8656, Japan.
Nat Commun. 2013;4:2390. doi: 10.1038/ncomms3390.
Efficient and low-cost electrocatalysts for the oxygen evolution reaction are essential components of renewable energy technologies, such as solar fuel synthesis and providing a hydrogen source for powering fuel cells. Here we report that the nitrogen-doped carbon materials function as the efficient oxygen evolution electrocatalysts. In alkaline media, the material generated a current density of 10 mA cm(-2) at the overpotential of 0.38 V, values that are comparable to those of iridium and cobalt oxide catalysts and are the best among the non-metal oxygen evolution electrocatalyst. The electrochemical and physical studies indicate that the high oxygen evolution activity of the nitrogen/carbon materials is from the pyridinic-nitrogen- or/and quaternary-nitrogen-related active sites. Our findings suggest that the non-metal catalysts will be a potential alternative to the use of transition metal-based oxygen evolution catalysts.
高效且低成本的析氧反应电催化剂是可再生能源技术（如太阳能燃料合成和为燃料电池提供氢气源）的重要组成部分。在这里，我们报告氮掺杂碳材料可用作高效析氧反应电催化剂。在碱性介质中，该材料在过电势为 0.38 V 时产生 10 mA cm(-2) 的电流密度，这一数值可与铱和氧化钴催化剂相媲美，并且在非金属析氧反应电催化剂中是最好的。电化学和物理研究表明，氮/碳材料的高析氧活性来自吡啶氮或/和季氮相关的活性位。我们的研究结果表明，非金属催化剂将有可能替代基于过渡金属的析氧催化剂。
