Cu Nanoparticles Embedded in N-Doped Carbon Materials for Oxygen Reduction Reaction

.Summary of main observation and conclusion Development of eco-friendly, cost-effective, and high-performance electrocatalysts to replace precious metal platinum for oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) has received increasing attention. Herein, we adopt a facile one-pot strategy to embed Cu nanoparticles onto N-doped carbon-graphene (Cu@NC-700). The Cu@NC-700 exhibits robust and efficient ORR catalysis with positive half-wave potential (similar to 0.86 V vs. RHE) and low Tafel slope (33.9 mV center dot dec(-1)) in 0.1 M KOH solution. Meanwhile, it manifests remarkable electrochemical stability, and strong tolerance to methanol crossover and carbon monoxide poisoning. The synergistic effect between Cu-N-C sites, Cu nanoparticles, and N-doped carbon support speeds up ORR electrocatalysis.