Recently, associated professor Li Fei’s research team has published an article in Electrochimica Acta entitled "Ultrafine Co-doped ZnO nanoparticles on reduced graphene oxide as an efficient electrocatalyst for oxygen reduction reaction" thesis.

The preparation of cheap and efficient oxygen reduction reaction is the key to the development of new energy sources such as fuel cells and metal air batteries. In this paper, cobalt doped nanoparticles / reduced graphene oxide (Co-doped ZnO NPs@rGO) composites were prepared by a simple method of reflux and calcination. The experiment found that when CO doping concentration is 0.38, Co0.38Zn0.62O NPs@rGO composites exhibited a good electrocatalytic performance for oxygen reduction: the initial potential is 0.90 V, the limiting current density is 3.94 mA/cm-2. And the reaction to four electron reduction of oxygen is better than the traditional one with the electrochemical stability of Pt/C catalyst and methanol resistance. It is the first time to propose the possibility of using ZnO semiconductor material doped with oxygen to reduce the catalytic activity of Co2+ as a new type of oxygen reduction electrocatalyst.

Other co-authors of the paper include: master Sun Yao, Xin Shuli, and undergraduate Shen Zi Chao.

Links: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0013468616325658