Understanding Hydrazine Oxidation Electrocatalysis On Undoped ...

Understanding hydrazine oxidation electrocatalysis on undoped carbon†

Tomer Y. Burshtein, a Kesha Tamakuwala, ‡a Matan Sananis,a Ilya Grinberg, b Nagaprasad Reddy Samala *b and David Eisenberg *a Author affiliations

* Corresponding authors

a Schulich Faculty of Chemistry and the Grand Technion Energy Program, Technion – Israel Institute of Technology, Technion City, Haifa 3200003, Israel E-mail: eisenberg@technion.ac.il

b Department of Chemistry, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat Gan, Israel E-mail: snpreddy063@gmail.com

Abstract

Carbons are ubiquitous electrocatalytic supports for various energy-related transformations, especially in fuel cells. Doped carbons such as Fe–N–C materials are particularly active towards the oxidation of hydrazine, an alternative fuel and hydrogen carrier. However, there is little discussion of the electrocatalytic role of the most abundant component – the carbon matrix – towards the hydrazine oxidation reaction (HzOR). We present a systematic investigation of undoped graphitic carbons towards the HzOR in alkaline electrolyte. Using highly oriented pyrolytic graphite electrodes, as well as graphite powders enriched in either basal planes or edge defects, we demonstrate that edge defects are the most active catalytic sites during hydrazine oxidation electrocatalysis. Theoretical DFT calculations support and explain the mechanism of HzOR on carbon edges, identifying unsaturated graphene armchair defects as the most likely active sites. Finally, these findings explain the ‘double peak’ voltammetric feature observed on many doped carbons during the HzOR.

• This article is part of the themed collection: 2022 PCCP HOT Articles

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