Since Professor Dai and co-worker’s discovery of the first carbon-based metal-free electrocatalyst (C-MFEC) in 2009 [Science 2009, 323, 760-764. Citations: 6144], C-MFEC has emerged as a new field of research over the world. More recently, Dai and co-workers have been working on the translation of this top 10 Technology [https://www.manufacturing.net/home/news/13131091/top-10-technologies-nanotechnology-the-catalyst-for-better-fuel-cells] to a commercial reality by developing simple and effective methods for low-cost, scalable production of high-quality C-MFECs. A-CMC will continue to develop C-MFECs for key electrochemical reactions involved in energy conversion and storage, such as fuel cells, energy storage batteries, water splitting for H2 generation, and other value-added chemical production (e.g., H2O2 from oxygen reduction).
Selected relevant publications
(1) Liming Dai (Ed.) “Special Issue on carbon-based metal-free catalysts”, Advanced Materials 31(13), 2019 (Published on March 27, 2019).https://doi.org/10.1002/adma.201970090
(2) Jia Y, Zhang L, Zhuang L, Liu H, Yan X, Wang X, Liu J, Wang J, Zheng Y, Xiao Z, Taran E, Chen J, Yang D, Zhu Z, Wang S, Dai L, Yao X. Identification of active sites for acidic oxygen reduction on carbon catalysts with and without nitrogen doping. Nature Catalysis 2019, 2, 688–695. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41929-019-0297-4.
(3) Gao R, Dai Q, Du F, et al. C60-adsorbed single-walled carbon nanotubes as metal-free, pH-universal, and multifunctional catalysts for oxygen reduction, oxygen evolution, and hydrogen evolution. Journal of the American Chemical Society, 2019, 141(29): 11658-11666. https://doi.org/10.1021/jacs.9b05006.
(4) Xue L, Li Y, Liu X, Liu Q, Shang J, Duan H, Dai L, Shui J.. Zigzag carbon as efficient and stable oxygen reduction electrocatalyst for proton exchange membrane fuel cells. Nature Communication 2018, 9, 3819. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-018-06279-x
(5) Hu C, Dai L. Multifunctional carbon‐based metal‐free electrocatalysts for simultaneous oxygen reduction, oxygen evolution, and hydrogen evolution. Advanced Materials 2018, 29(9): 1604942. https://doi.org/10.1002/adma.201604942.
(6) Liu X., Dai L. Carbon-based metal-free catalysts. Nature Review Materials 2016, 1, 16064. https://doi.org/10.1038/natrevmats.2016.64.
(7) Yang, HB, Miao, J, Hung, S, Chen, J, Tao, HB, Wang, X, Zhang, L, Chen, R, Gao, J, Chen, HM, Dai, L, Liu, B. Identification of catalytic sites for oxygen reduction and oxygen evolution in N-doped graphene materials: Development of highly efficient metal-free bifunctional electrocatalyst. Science Advances 2016, 2, e1501122 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.1501122.
(8) Zhang J, Zhao Z, Xia Z, Dai L. A metal-free bifunctional electrocatalyst for oxygen reduction and oxygen evolution reactions. Nature Nanotechnology 2015, 10 (5), 444-452. https://doi.org/10.1038/nnano.2015.48.
(9) Dai L, Xue Y, Qu L, Choi H, Baek J. Metal-free catalysts for oxygen reduction reaction, Chemical Reviews 2015,115 (11), 4823-4892. https://doi.org/10.1021/cr5003563.
(10) Gong K, Du F, Xia Z, Durstock M, Dai L. Nitrogen-Doped Carbon Nanotube Arrays with High Electrocatalytic Activity for Oxygen Reduction. Science 2009, 323, 760. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1168049.
