Nickel supported on nitrogen-doped carbon nanotubes as hydrogen oxidation reaction catalyst in alkaline electrolyte

Zhongbin Zhuang, Stephen A. Giles, Jie Zheng, Glen R. Jenness, Stavros Caratzoulas, Dionisios G. Vlachos () and Yushan Yan ()
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Zhongbin Zhuang: State Key Lab of Organic-Inorganic Composites, Beijing University of Chemical Technology
Stephen A. Giles: University of Delaware
Jie Zheng: University of Delaware
Glen R. Jenness: University of Delaware
Stavros Caratzoulas: University of Delaware
Dionisios G. Vlachos: University of Delaware
Yushan Yan: University of Delaware

Nature Communications, 2016, vol. 7, issue 1, 1-8

Abstract: 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.

Date: 2016
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DOI: 10.1038/ncomms10141

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