Journal of Energy Chemistry

Journal of Energy Chemistry ›› 2022, Vol. 65 ›› Issue (2): 149-172.DOI: 10.1016/j.jechem.2021.05.052

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Biomass-derived bifunctional electrocatalysts for oxygen reduction and evolution reaction: A review

Satpal Singh Sekhona,b,*, Jaeyoung Leec, Jin-Soo Parka,d,*   

  1. aFuture Environment and Energy Research Institute, Sangmyung University, Cheonan 31066, Republic of Korea;
    bDepartment of Physics, Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar 143005, India;
    cErtl Center for Electrochemistry and Catalysis, Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology, 123 Cheomdangwagi-ro, Buk-gu, Gwangju 61005, Republic of Korea;
    dDepartment of Green Chemical Engineering, College of Engineering, Sangmyung University, Cheonan 31066, Republic of Korea
  • Received:2021-01-08 Revised:2021-05-27 Accepted:2021-05-28 Online:2022-02-15 Published:2022-10-26
  • Contact: *E-mail address: sekhon.gndu@gmail.com (S.S. Sekhon).
  • About author:Satpal Singh Sekhon received his doctoral degree in Physics from Punjabi University, Patiala, India. He worked as a Professor of Physics and Applied Physics at Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar, India and at The University of the West Indies, St Augustine, Trinidad and Tobago. He also worked as Brain Pool Scientist at Fuel Cell Research Centre, Korea Institute of Energy Research, Daejeon, South Korea. He is currently a University Honorary Professor at Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar, India, and an Invited Scientist under Brain Pool program of NRF Korea, at Sangmyung University, Cheonan, South Korea. He has been awarded MRSI Medal by Material Research Society of India for his outstanding contribution in the field of Materials Science and Engineering. He has published over 100 research papers and was recently listed among the Top 2% scientists of the world (Energy) in a global list compiled by Stanford University scientists. His current research interests include heteroatom-doped metal free electrocatalysts based on carbon nanomaterials and biomass for fuel cells and other energy technologies.
    Jaeyoung Lee is currently Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology (GIST) Prominent Professor and the Vice Director of the Ertl Center for Electrochemistry and Catalysis. He obtained his Ph.D. degree in 2001 at Fritz-Haber-Institut der MPG and FU Berlin, Germany under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Gerhard Ertl (2007 Nobel Laureate). He stayed at KIST and RIST (POSCO) as a senior scientist between 2002 and 2007. His research field spans to fuel cells, water electrolysis, CO2 and NH3 electrocatalysis, Li-S battery, CDI and AI Electrochemistry.
    Jin-Soo Park received his doctoral degree in Department of Environmental Engineering from Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology (GIST), Republic of Korea in 2004. He worked as a postdoctoral researcher at Fuel Cell Research Center, Korea Institute of Energy Research (KIER) from February 2004 to April 2005. He worked as a Senior Researcher at the same center from May 2005 to August 2009. He joined in Department of Green Chemical Engineering, College of Engineering, Sangmyung University, Republic of Korea in 2009, promoted to Assistant Professor in 2011, Associate Professor in 2015, and Full Professor in 2020. His research interests mainly focus on in the materials and processes for electrochemical engineering such as proton exchange membrane fuel cell, water electrolysis, reverse electrodialysis, capacitive deionization, redox flow battery, etc.

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Abstract: Oxygen electrode catalysts are important as inter-conversion of O2 and H2O is crucial for energy technologies. However, the sluggish kinetics of oxygen reduction and evolution reactions (ORR and OER) are a hindrance to their scalable production, whereas scarce and costly Pt and Ir/Ru-based catalysts with the highest electrocatalytic activity are commercially unviable. Since good ORR catalysts are not always efficient for OER and vice versa, so bifunctional catalysts on which OER and ORR occurs on the same electrode are very desirable. Alternative catalysts based on heteroatom-doped carbon nanomaterials, though showed good electrocatalytic activity yet their high cost and complex synthesis is not viable for scalable production. To overcome these drawbacks, biomass-derived heteroatom-doped porous carbons have recently emerged as low-cost, earth-abundant, renewable and sustainable environment-friendly materials for bifunctional oxygen catalysts. The tunable morphology, mesoporous structure and high concentration of catalytic active sites of these materials due to heteroatom (N)-doping could further enhance their ORR and OER activity, along with tolerance to methanol crossover and good durability. Thus, biomass-derived heteroatom-doped porous carbons with large surface area, rich edge defects, numerous micropores and thin 2D nanoarchitecture could be suitable as efficient bifunctional oxygen catalysts. In the present article, synthesis, N-doping, ORR/OER mechanism and electrocatalytic performance of biomass-derived bifunctional catalysts has been discussed. The selected biomass (chitin, eggs, euonymus japonicas, tobacco, lysine and plant residue) except wood, act as both C and N precursor, resulting in N self-doping of porous carbons that avoids the use of toxic chemicals, thus making the synthesis a facile and environment-friendly green process. The synthetic strategy could be further optimized to develop future biomass-based N self-doped porous carbons as metal-free high performance bifunctional oxygen catalysts for commercial energy applications. Recent advances and the importance of biomass-based bifunctional oxygen catalysts in metal-air batteries and fuel cells has been highlighted. The material design, perspectives and future directions in this field are also provided.

Key words: Bifunctional catalysts, Biomass, ORR, OER, N-doping, Porous carbons