International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, Vol.45, No.11, 6380-6390, 2020
Tuning morphology and structure of Fe-N-C catalyst for ultra-high oxygen reduction reaction activity
Exploring efficient and durable non-precious metal catalysts for oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) has long been pursued in the field of metal-air batteries, fuel cells, and solar cells. Rational design and controllable synthesis of desirable catalysts are still a great challenge. In this work, a novel approach is developed to tune the morphologies and structures of Fe-N-C catalysts in combination with the dual nitrogen-containing carbon precursors and the gas-foaming agent. The tailored Fe-N-1/N-2-C-A catalyst presents gauze-like porous nanosheets with uniformly dispersed tiny nanoparticles. Such architectures exhibit abundant Fe-N-x active sites and high-exposure surfaces. The Fe-N-1/N-2-C-A catalyst shows extremely high half-wave potential (E-1/2, 0.916 V vs. RHE) and large limiting current density (6.3 mA cm(-2)), far beyond 20 wt% Pt/C catalyst for ORR. This work provides a facile morphological and structural regulation to increase the number and exposure of Fe-N-x active sites. (C) 2019 Hydrogen Energy Publications LLC. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Keywords:Oxygen reduction reaction;Morphology and structure;Active site;Gas-foaming;Catalytic activity