Nickel supported on nitrogen-doped carbon nanotubes as hydrogen oxidation reaction catalyst in alkaline electrolyte
Date
2016-01-14
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
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Publisher
Nature Publishing Group
Abstract
The development of a low-cost, high-performance platinum-group-metal-free hydroxide
exchange membrane fuel cell is hindered by the lack of a hydrogen oxidation reaction catalyst
at the anode. Here we report that a composite catalyst, nickel nanoparticles supported on
nitrogen-doped carbon nanotubes, has hydrogen oxidation activity similar to platinum-group
metals in alkaline electrolyte. Although nitrogen-doped carbon nanotubes are a very poor
hydrogen oxidation catalyst, as a support, it increases the catalytic performance of nickel
nanoparticles by a factor of 33 (mass activity) or 21 (exchange current density) relative to
unsupported nickel nanoparticles. Density functional theory calculations indicate that the
nitrogen-doped support stabilizes the nanoparticle against reconstruction, while nitrogen
located at the edge of the nanoparticle tunes local adsorption sites by affecting the d-orbitals
of nickel. Owing to its high activity and low cost, our catalyst shows significant potential for
use in low-cost, high-performance fuel cells.
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Citation
Zhuang, Z. et al. Nickel supported on nitrogen-doped carbon nanotubes as hydrogen oxidation reaction catalyst in alkaline electrolyte. Nat. Commun. 7:10141 doi: 10.1038/ncomms10141 (2016).