The Synergistic Effect of Oxygen Vacancy and Carbon Interface Engineering in Hollow Cerium Oxide to Achieve Enhanced Oxygen Reduction Performance

Abstract

Vacancy defect and interface engineering are confirmed to be beneficial to different electrocatalytic reactions. However, the combination of vacancy and interfacial effects to improve the oxygen reduction reaction performance of CeO 2 -based electrocatalysts has not been reported yet, and its internal mechanism remains to be further studied. Herein, a Ndoped carbon-coated CeO 2 hollow structure with massive oxygen vacancy (Vo-CeO 2 -NC) has been developed via a facile strategy. The Vo-CeO 2 -NC catalyst exhibits high oxygen reduction reaction performance, with an excellent half-wave potential (0.88 V vs RHE) and onset potential (0.95 V vs RHE). Combining with density functional theory calculations, the catalytic results indicate that the synergistic effect of oxygen vacancies and the N-doped carbon interface layer could promote the conductivity of CeO 2 and provide a strong interfacial interaction and significantly promote the catalyst oxygen reduction reaction performance. In addition, a zinc-air battery assembled by Vo-CeO 2 -NC exhibits a significantly enhanced performance with a power density of 145.1 mW cm −2 , better than that of the commercial Pt/C catalyst (121.8 mW cm −2 ). This work not only combines oxygen vacancy and the carbon interface layer to enhance the oxygen reduction reaction activity of the catalyst for the first time but also sheds light on the in-depth mechanism of vacancy-interface interactions.

Ambient sunlight-driven high performance chlorinated volatile organic compound oxidation by Cu0.15Mn0.15Ce0.7Ox hollow spheres

“…9,10 Among the transition metal oxides, CeO 2 has the superiority of abundant oxygen vacancies, excessive oxygen storage capability, and easy transformation between Ce 3+ and Ce 4+ , making it a potential catalyst. [11][12][13] However, pure CeO 2 tends to lose oxygen mobility and deactivate rapidly owing to the strong adsorption of chlorine matter on its surface. Thus, CuO and MnO x with good catalytic activity for the destruction of CVOCs are employed to modify CeO 2 .…”

Hydrogen-Treated Spent Lithium Cobalt Oxide as an Efficient Electrocatalyst for Oxygen Evolution

“…Moreover, the ORR performance of hydrogen-treated CeO 2 can also be enhanced thanks to the increase in oxygen vacancies. 24 Herein, hydrogen treatment is used in spent LiCoO 2 to prepare high-efficiency OER catalysts for the first time. The reconstitution of spent LiCoO 2 was achieved into an excellent OER catalyst by a two-step method.…”

“…Hydrotreatment can promote the adsorption of Co 3+ sites for OH – and improve electronic conductivity. Moreover, the ORR performance of hydrogen-treated CeO 2 can also be enhanced thanks to the increase in oxygen vacancies …”

Valence state modulation of Mn/FePO4 nanostructures for the oxygen reduction reaction

“…[1][2][3] The major barrier to producing an efficient device is the sluggishness of the cathodic process involving the oxygen reduction reaction that determines the overall efficiency of these systems. 4,5 To address this issue, efficient ORR catalysts are highly desired. Currently, Ptbased materials are regarded as among the best ORR electrocatalysts in terms of their efficiency.…”