Synthesis of novel hollow carbon nanotubes @ Co-Fe alloy/iron phthalocyanine electrocatalyst by self-assembly method for OER and ORR study

The exploration of an inexpensive catalyst with effective oxygen evolution reaction (OER) and oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) activities to replace precious metal electrocatalysts has been of great interest in recent years. In this paper, CNT@Co-Fe/FePc composites were synthesized with high efficiency using a self-assembly strategy. In the synthesis process, carbon nanotubes (CNTs) were synthesized as the base material using crab shells as templates and honey as the carbon and nitrogen source. CoFe alloy nanoparticles derived from CoFe-based prussian blue analogs were self-assembled and anchored on CNTs, and then iron phthalocyanine with Fe-N4 portion was coupled with CNTs by π-π stacking. Finally formed a homogeneous and stable composite material. The self-assembly method is simple and efficient to achieve good metal loading. The prepared CNT@Co2-Fe1/FePc exhibits excellent catalytic performance and stability for OER and ORR in alkaline electrolyte. The overpotential at 10 mA cm−2 of CNT@Co2-Fe1/FePc for OER is 343 mV with a very small Tafel slope of 43.59 mV dec−1. CNT@Co2-Fe1/FePc has high methanol tolerance and persistence for ORR. This work provides a strategy for the construction of transition metal-carbon composite electrocatalytic materials with excellent catalytic performance and stability for OER and ORR reactions.