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Self-Supporting Oxygen Reduction Electrocatalysts Made from a Nitrogen-Rich Network Polymer
journal contribution
posted on 2012-12-05, 00:00 authored by Yong Zhao, Kazuya Watanabe, Kazuhito HashimotoWe report the design,
synthesis, and evaluation of a new type of
non-precious-metal catalyst made from network polymers. 2,6-Diaminopyridine
was selected as a building-block monomer for the formation of a nitrogen-rich
network polymer that forms self-supporting spherical backbone structures
and contains a high density of metal-coordination sites. A Co-/Fe-coordinating
pyrolyzed polymer exhibited a high specific oxygen reduction activity
with onset and half-wave potentials of 0.87 and 0.76 V vs RHE, respectively,
in neutral media. There was no crossover effect of organics on its
activity. The power output of a microbial fuel cell equipped with
this catalyst on its cathode was more than double the output with
a commercial 20 wt % Pt/C catalyst.