In-situ growth of NCNT and encapsulation of Co9S8/Co as a sustainable multifunctional electrocatalyst

Dongxue Liang; Jianxin Mao; Peng Liu; Jianyue Yan; Wenbo Song

doi:10.1016/j.jcis.2019.09.018

In-situ growth of NCNT and encapsulation of Co₉S₈/Co as a sustainable multifunctional electrocatalyst

J Colloid Interface Sci. 2019 Dec 1:557:291-300. doi: 10.1016/j.jcis.2019.09.018. Epub 2019 Sep 7.

Authors

Dongxue Liang¹, Jianxin Mao¹, Peng Liu¹, Jianyue Yan¹, Wenbo Song²

Affiliations

¹ College of Chemistry, Jilin University, Changchun 130012, PR China.
² College of Chemistry, Jilin University, Changchun 130012, PR China. Electronic address: wbsong@jlu.edu.cn.

PMID: 31525666
DOI: 10.1016/j.jcis.2019.09.018

Abstract

At present, the most effective catalytic materials are noble metals, which large-scale applications are strictly restricted by low reserve and high cost. For the development of sustainable energy, exploring cost-effective non-precious metal materials has therefore become an urgent task. As one of the promising candidates, the hybrid of transition metal sulfide and carbon-nitrogen skeleton attracts great attention due to variability, graded pore structure and high conductivity. Herein, a sustainable multifunctional electrocatalytic material has been designed and achieved by in-situ encapsulating Co₉S₈/Co in N-doped carbon nanotube (NCNT). Efficient multifunctional electrocatalysis towards oxygen reduction, oxygen evolution and hydrogen evolution reactions are realized. This work highlights the importance of rich Co-N and CoNC coupling centers generated by in-situ engineering transition metal sulfide into carbon-nitrogen skeleton for multifunctional catalytic conversion of sustainable energy. The results here may also be instructive for designing other complexes with perspective for catalysis, sensing, energy storage and conversion.

Keywords: Co(9)S(8)/NCNT; Electrocatalysis; In-situ growth; Multifunctional; Sustainable energy conversion.