Synthesis of Silver Nanoparticles Supported on Graphene Quantum Dots for Oxygen Reduction Reaction

Authors

Jian JU, State Key Laboratory of Electroanalytical Chemistry, Changchun Institute of Applied Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Changchun 130022, China;
Wei CHEN, State Key Laboratory of Electroanalytical Chemistry, Changchun Institute of Applied Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Changchun 130022, China;Follow

Corresponding Author

Wei CHEN(chenw@sari.ac.cn)

Abstract

Silver-based catalysts have been extensively investigated as the platinum substituted catalysts due to their high catalytic efficiency, low cost and long-term durability. In this study, the surfactant-free silver nanoparticles supported on graphene quantum dots were synthesized through a facile approach without addition of any other protecting ligands and reducing agents. The “surface-clean” silver nanoparticles had remarkable electrocatalytic performance towards oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) with the most efficient four-electron transfer process. Compared with commercial Pt/C catalyst, the hybrid nanoparticles showed comparable catalytic performance for ORR but much higher tolerance to methanol. Such silver nanoparticles supported on graphene quantum dots may have promising applications in alkaline fuel cells as an efficient Pt-free catalyst with high catalytic performance and low cost.

Graphical Abstract

Keywords

silver nanoparticles, graphene quantum dots, oxygen reduction, electrocatalyst

DOI Link

https://doi.org/10.13208/j.electrochem.131164

Publication Date

2014-08-28

Online Available Date

2014-04-15

Revised Date

2014-04-09

Received Date

2013-12-20

Recommended Citation

Jian JU, Wei CHEN. Synthesis of Silver Nanoparticles Supported on Graphene Quantum Dots for Oxygen Reduction Reaction[J]. Journal of Electrochemistry, 2014 , 20(4): 353-359.
DOI: 10.13208/j.electrochem.131164
Available at: https://jelectrochem.xmu.edu.cn/journal/vol20/iss4/9

References

[1] Jacobson M Z, Colella W G, Golden D M. Cleaning the air and improving health with hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles[J]. Science, 2005, 308(5730): 1901-1905.
[2] Debe M K. Electrocatalyst approaches and challenges for automotive fuel cells[J]. Nature, 2012, 486(7401): 43-51.
[3] Chen Z W, Higgins D, Yu A P, et al. A review on non-precious metal electrocatalysts for PEM fuel cells[J]. Energy & Environmental Science, 2011, 4(9): 3167-3192.
[4] Ou L H, Chen S L. Comparative study of oxygen reduction reaction mechanisms on the Pd(111) and Pt(111) surfaces in acid medium by DFT[J]. Journal of Physical Chemistry C, 2013, 117(3): 1342-1349.
[5] Peng Z M, Yang H. Synthesis and oxygen reduction electrocatalytic property of Pt-on-Pd bimetallic heteronanostructures[J]. Journal of the American Chemical Society, 2009, 131(22): 7542-7543.
[6] Liu L, Samjeske G, Nagamatsu S, et al. Enhanced oxygen reduction reaction activity and characterization of Pt-Pd/C bimetallic fuel cell catalysts with Pt-enriched surfaces in acid media[J]. Journal of Physical Chemistry C, 2012, 116(44): 23453-23464.
[7] Feng Y, Alonso-Vante N. Nonprecious metal catalysts for the molecular oxygen-reduction reaction[J]. Physica Status Solidi B-Basic Solid State Physics, 2008, 245(9): 1792-1806.
[8] Wang R Y, Xu C X, Bi X X, et al. Nanoporous surface alloys as highly active and durable oxygen reduction reaction electrocatalysts[J]. Energy & Environmental Science, 2012, 5(1): 5281-5286.
[9] Chen D, Tang L H, Li J H. Graphene-based materials in electrochemistry[J]. Chemical Society Reviews, 2010, 39(8): 3157-3180.
[10] Wu L F, Feng H B, Liu M J, et al. Graphene-based hollow spheres as efficient electrocatalysts for oxygen reduction[J]. Nanoscale, 2013, 5(22): 10839-10843.
[11] Chen W, Kim J M, Sun S H, et al. Electrocatalytic reduction of oxygen by FePt alloy nanoparticles[J]. Journal of Physical Chemistry C, 2008, 112(10): 3891-3898.
[12] Kang Y J, Ye X C, Chen J, et al. Design of Pt-Pd binary superlattices exploiting shape effects and synergistic effects for oxygen reduction reactions[J]. Journal of the American Chemical Society, 2013, 135(1): 42-45.
[13] Hwang S J, Yoo S J, Jang S, et al. Ternary Pt-Fe-Co alloy electrocatalysts prepared by electrodeposition: Elucidating the roles of Fe and Co in the oxygen reduction reaction[J]. Journal of Physical Chemistry C, 2011, 115(5): 2483-2488.
[14] Sarkar A, Murugan A V, Manthiram A. Pt-encapsulated Pd-Co nanoalloy electrocatalysts for oxygen reduction reaction in fuel cells[J]. Langmuir, 2010, 26(4): 2894-2903.
[15] Zhang Q, Li W, Wen L P, et al. Facile synthesis of Ag nanocubes of 30 to 70 nm in edge length with CF3COOAg as a precursor[J]. Chemistry-A European Journal, 2010, 16(33): 10234-10239.
[16] Shim J H, Yang J, Kim S J, et al. One dimensional Ag/Au/AgCl nanocomposites stemmed from Ag nanowires for electrocatalysis of oxygen reduction[J]. Journal of Materials Chemistry, 2012, 22(30): 15285-15290.
[17] Lee Y, Loew A, Sun S H. Surface- and structure-dependent catalytic activity of Au nanoparticles for oxygen reduction reaction[J]. Chemistry of Materials, 2010, 22(3): 755-761.
[18] Roche I, Chainet E, Chatenet M, et al. Carbon-supported manganese oxide nanoparticles as electrocatalysts for the Oxygen Reduction Reaction (ORR) in alkaline medium: Physical characterizations and ORR mechanism[J]. Journal of Physical Chemistry C, 2007, 111(3): 1434-1443.
[19] Zhang D(张栋), Zhang C Z(张存中), Mu D B(穆道斌), et al. A Review of Ag-based catalysts for oxygen reduction reaction[J]. Acta Chimica Sinica(化学学报), 2013, 71(8): 1101-1110.
[20] Lu Y Z, Chen W. Sub-nanometre sized metal clusters: From synthetic challenges to the unique property discoveries[J]. Chemical Society Reviews, 2012, 41(9): 3594-3623.
[21] Guo J S, Zhou J, Chu D, et al. Tuning the electrochemical interface of Ag/C electrodes in alkaline media with metallophthalocyanine molecules[J]. Journal of Physical Chemistry C, 2013, 117(8): 4006-4017.
[22] Liu M, Chen W. Green synthesis of silver nanoclusters supported on carbon nanodots: Enhanced photoluminescence and high catalytic activity for oxygen reduction reaction[J]. Nanoscale, 2013, 5(24): 12558-12564.
[23] Wei W T, Chen W. "Naked" Pd nanoparticles supported on carbon nanodots as efficient anode catalysts for methanol oxidation in alkaline fuel cells[J]. Journal of Power Sources, 2012, 204: 85-88.
[24] Zhang Z P, Zhang J, Chen N, et al. Graphene quantum dots: An emerging material for energy-related applications and beyond[J]. Energy & Environmental Science, 2012, 5(10): 8869-8890.
[25] Dong Y Q, Li G L, Zhou, N N, et al. Graphene quantum dot as a green and facile sensor for free chlorine in drinking water[J]. Analytical Chemistry, 2012, 84(19): 8378-8382.
[26] He G Q, Song Y, Liu K, et al. Oxygen reduction catalyzed by platinum nanoparticles supported on graphene quantum dots[J]. ACS Catalysis, 2013, 3(5): 831-838.
[27] Peng J, Gao W, Gupta B K, et al. Graphene quantum dots derived from carbon fibers[J]. Nano Letters, 2012, 12(2): 844-849.
[28] Shen J H, Zhu Y H, Yang X L, et al. Graphene quantum dots: Emergent nanolights for bioimaging, sensors, catalysis and photovoltaic devices[J]. Chemical Communications, 2012, 48(31): 3686-3699.
[29] Li L L, Ji J, Fei R, et al. A facile microwave avenue to electrochemiluminescent two-color graphene quantum dots[J]. Advanced Functional Materials, 2012, 22(14): 2971-2979.
[30] Pan D Y, Guo L, Zhang J C, et al. Cutting sp2 clusters in graphene sheets into colloidal graphene quantum dots with strong green fluorescence[J]. Journal of Materials Chemistry, 2012, 22(8): 3314-3318.
[31] Chen W, Chen S W. Oxygen electroreduction catalyzed by gold nanoclusters: Strong core size effects[J]. Angewandte Chemie-International Edition, 2009, 48(24): 4386-4389.
[32] Liu M J, Dong Y Z, Wu Y M, et al. Titanium nitride nanocrystals on nitrogen-doped graphene as an efficient electrocatalyst for oxygen reduction reaction[J]. Chemistry-A European Journal, 2013, 19(44): 14781-14786.