Development of a highly active Fe-N-C catalyst with the preferential formation of atomic iron sites for oxygen reduction in alkaline and acidic electrolytes
- Authors
- Mehmood, Asad; Ali, Basit; Gong, Mengjun; Kim, Min Gyu; Kim, Ji-Young; Bae, Jee-Hwan; Kucernak, Anthony; Kang, Yong-Mook; Nam, Kyung-Wan
- Issue Date
- 15-8월-2021
- Publisher
- ACADEMIC PRESS INC ELSEVIER SCIENCE
- Keywords
- Fe-N-C; Fuel cells; Non-precious metal catalysts; Oxygen reduction reaction; Site density
- Citation
- JOURNAL OF COLLOID AND INTERFACE SCIENCE, v.596, pp.148 - 157
- Indexed
- SCIE
SCOPUS
- Journal Title
- JOURNAL OF COLLOID AND INTERFACE SCIENCE
- Volume
- 596
- Start Page
- 148
- End Page
- 157
- URI
- https://scholar.korea.ac.kr/handle/2021.sw.korea/139559
- DOI
- 10.1016/j.jcis.2021.03.081
- ISSN
- 0021-9797
- Abstract
- Nitrogen-doped porous carbons containing atomically dispersed iron are prime candidates for substituting platinum-based catalysts for oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) in fuel cells. These carbon catalysts are classically synthesized via complicated routes involving multiple heat-treatment steps to form the desired Fe-Nx sites. We herein developed a highly active Fe-N-C catalyst comprising of exclusive FeNx sites by a simplified solid-state synthesis protocol involving only a single heat-treatment. Imidazole is pyrolyzed in the presence of an inorganic salt-melt resulting in highly porous carbon sheets decorated with abundant Fe-Nx centers, which yielded a high density of electrochemically accessible active sites (1.36 x 1019 sites g-1) as determined by the in situ nitrite stripping technique. The optimized catalyst delivered a remarkable ORR activity with a half-wave potential (E1/2) of 0.905 VRHE in alkaline electrolyte surpassing the benchmark Pt catalyst by 55 mV. In acidic electrolyte, an E1/2 of 0.760 VRHE is achieved at a low loading level (0.29 mg cm-2). In PEMFC tests, a current density of 2.3 mA cm-2 is achieved at 0.90 ViR-free under H2-O2 conditions, reflecting high kinetic activity of the optimized catalyst. (c) 2021 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
- Files in This Item
- There are no files associated with this item.
- Appears in
Collections - College of Engineering > Department of Materials Science and Engineering > 1. Journal Articles
Items in ScholarWorks are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.