Bamboo-Like Nitrogen-Doped Carbon Nanotubes with Co Nanoparticles Encapsulated at the Tips: Uniform and Large-Scale Synthesis and High-Performance Electrocatalysts for Oxygen Reduction

In recent years, various non-precious metal electrocatalysts for the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) have been extensively investigated. The development of an efficient and simple method to synthesize non-precious metal catalysts with ORR activity superior to that of Pt is extremely significant for large-scale applications of fuel cells. Here, we develop a facile, low-cost, and large-scale synthesis method for uniform nitrogen-doped (N-doped) bamboo-like CNTs (NBCNT) with Co nanoparticles encapsulated at the tips by annealing a mixture of cobalt acetate and melamine. The uniform NBCNT shows better ORR catalytic activity and higher stability in alkaline solutions as compared with commercial Pt/C and comparable catalytic activity to Pt/C in acidic media. NBCNTs exhibit outstanding ORR catalytic activity due to high defect density, uniform bamboo-like structure, and the synergistic effect between the Co nanoparticles and protective graphitic layers. This facile method to synthesize catalysts, which is amenable to the large-scale commercialization of fuel cells, will open a new avenue for the development of low-cost and high-performance ORR catalysts to replace Pt-based catalysts for applications in energy conversion.