Synthesizing non‐noble metal electrocatalysts with both high activity and high stability for the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) is of great significance in the fuel cell and metal‐air battery industries. Herein, a facile method is explored to fabricate submicron Co9S8/CoS/C spheres by using Streptococcus thermophiles as a template. The electrocatalytic activity for the ORR with an onset and half‐wave potential of 0.87 and 0.79 V, respectively, vs. RHE approaches that of commercial Pt/C catalyst. The durability and methanol tolerance are better than those of the commercial catalyst. The good performance could be attributed to the coupling effect between Co9S8/CoS and the bio‐carbon substrate, as well as the robust submicron sphere morphology. Benefiting from the structural diversity of bacteria, this method can be extended to the synthesis of sulfide catalysts with other elaborate architectures.
Promoting the electronic conductivity and constructing regular porous structures are of high importance for increasing the electrochemical performance of oxides as supercapacitor electrodes. Herein, a simple biotemplating method is explored to synthesize NiO/Ni with regular pore‐array structures. The specific capacitance of the biomorphic NiO/Ni (381.4 F g−1 at 1 A g−1) is higher than that of the nontemplated NiO sample (251.2 F g−1 at 1 A g−1). Moreover, good rate capability and cycling stability are also demonstrated. The enhanced electrochemical performance should be attributed to the improved electronic conductivity of hybridized NiO/Ni component and the efficient mass/charge transport in the biomorphic pore‐array architecture.
Searching for efficient non‐noble metal electrocatalyst for oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) has become a hot topic in electrochemical field. Herein, duck blood containing heme (a type of ferriporphyrin) is carbonized and activated to obtain Fe, N doped carbon. The activated carbonized blood (a‐CB) exhibits an extremely high specific surface area of 2655 m2 g–1. Then, Co3O4 nanoparticles are loaded on the efficient substrate via hydrothermal method. The as obtained Co3O4/a‐CB composite exhibits good catalytic performance for ORR. The onset and half‐wave potentials are 0.95 and 0.77 V vs. RHE, respectively. These values are comparable to those of commercial Pt/C (20 wt.‐%) catalyst. What's more, Co3O4/a‐CB shows better durability and methanol tolerance than commercial Pt/C, making it a promising electrocatalyst for ORR. Compared to artificial porous heteroatom doped carbon materials, this work seeks raw materials from natural biomass waste to obtain efficient carbon substrate with both high porosity and Fe, N self‐doping feature for catalyst applications.
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