ZIF-8/PEDOT @ flexible carbon cloth electrode as highly efficient electrocatalyst for oxygen reduction reaction

Abstract Design and fabrication of highly efficient and low-cost oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) electrocatalysts is of paramount importance for practical applications. Herein, we proposed a cost-effective, metal-free catalyst based on ZIF-8 metal-organic framework nanoparticles/electro-polymerized poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) (PEDOT) film on the surface of flexible carbon cloth (CC) electrode (ZIF-8/PEDOT/CC) via a two-step procedure. For this purpose, worm-like PEDOT nanostructures were deposited on the surface of carbon fibers using a pulse electro-polymerization technique followed by facile growth of ZIF-8 polyhedra nanoparticles via a chemical bath deposition method. The ORR measurements in O2-saturated KOH electrolyte solution using the modified CC electrode demonstrated that the prepared electrode exhibits remarkable electrocatalytic activity towards ORR with 8 times increase in the cathodic current density compared to bare CC (J = 0.13–1.1 mA/cm2) along with lower overpotential due to the synergetic effects between ZIF-8 nanoparticles as particularly porous nanostructure act as electrolyte reservoirs and highly conductive PEDOT film. The Kouteckey-Levich analysis for the ZIF-8/PEDOT-modified CC electrode revealed that the oxygen reduction reaction proceeds via a nearly four-electron pathway along with superior tolerance to methanol crossover as well as enhanced stability in alkaline solution compared to the gold standard commercial Pt catalyst.