Web Release Date: January 17,
Rational Functionalization of Carbon Nanotube/Ionic Liquid Bucky Gel with Dual Tailor-Made Electrocatalysts for Four-Electron Reduction of Oxygen
Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Sciences, Center for Molecular Science, Institute of Chemistry, the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Beijing 100080, China
Received: October 5, 2007
In Final Form: November 10, 2007
Abstract:
Multiwalled carbon nanotube/ionic liquid bucky gel is rationally functionalized with dual tailor-made electrocatalysts to form novel kinds of structurally uniform and electrochemically favorable multifunctional materials that are very active for an apparent four-electron (4e) reduction of oxygen (O2). Cobalt porphyrin (CoP) dissolved into the bucky gel is used as the first electrocatalyst for the 2e-reduction of O2 into H2O2, and Prussian blue nanoparticles (PB-NPs) synthesized in ionic liquid are used as the second electrocatalyst for the 2e-reduction of the produced H2O2 into H2O to evoke an apparent 4e-reduction of O2 with a low overpotential. In this context, the bucky gel can not only serve as a "reservoir" to homogeneously "culture" the tailor-made electrocatalysts but also enhance the electrocatalytic activities of the "cultured" dual electrocatalysts toward the reduction of O2 into H2O2 and H2O2 into H2O. The multifunctional materials prepared by rational functionalization of carbon nanotube/ionic liquid bucky gel with the dual tailor-made electrocatalysts are demonstrated to be very active for the 4e-reduction of O2 and could thus be potentially used as a new kind of non-platinum cathode material for O2 reduction in fuel cells. The strategy demonstrated here is cost-effective and may pave a relatively general approach to preparation of multifunctional materials with excellent properties and striking applications.
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