Development of Nickel-ZIF-8 Doped Nitrogen Reduced Graphene Oxide Catalytic Materials for PEM Fuel Cell

Abstract This paper presents the results of our investigation on new catalyst materials for Proton-exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cells. The sluggish kinetics of the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) and poor electrochemical durability of platinum-based catalysts necessitated the study of new materials. Recently, pyrolytic transition metal nitrogen-carbon material (M-N-C) based catalysts have gained considerable attention for their unique electronic structure and other physical properties, which can facilitate better ionic and electronic conductivities. Specifically, nickel-nitrogen-carbon (Ni-N-C) catalysts have demonstrated favorable catalytic activity and durability due to their fast electron transfer rates and improved kinetic reaction rates. This study describes a facile method for synthesizing Nitrogen-doped and pristine reduced graphene oxide (N-rGO and rGO) with Metal-Organic Framework (MOF) material, in making N-rGO-Ni-ZIFx and rGO-Ni-ZIFx Several characterization techniques, including FTIR, Raman spectroscopy, XRD, SEM, and EDS, were employed to assess the physical and chemical properties that impact the electrochemical performance of the synthesized materials. Based on the results obtained, it can be inferred that the inclusion of the transition metal and the process of high-temperature pyrolysis (at 600°C) have a considerable influence on the improvement of ORR activity. The N-rGO-Ni-ZIFx-600 sample exhibits superior ORR activity in acidic media, displaying comparable redox peaks to those observed with the commercially available 40 wt% Pt/C catalyst. The correlation of different properties with their respective electrochemical activity is discussed in this paper.