Abstract
A new platinum group metal (PGM)-free proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) cathode catalyst materials, synthesized using the VariPore™ method by Pajarito Powder, LLC, are characterized for their structure and activity. The physico-chemical analysis of the iron-nitrogen-carbon (Fe-N-C) electrocatalysts show mesoporous carbon material effectively doped with iron and nitrogen. The materials have an average pore size of 7–8 nm and high specific surface area. The Fe-N-C catalysts exhibit good oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) activity in 0.5 M H2SO4 electrolyte with high half-wave potential and sustainable electrochemical stability over 10,000 repeated potential cycles with insignificant losses in their activities. As cathode catalysts in a PEMFC, the Fe-N-C materials deliver remarkably good fuel cell performance at low overpotential approaching that of the commercial Pt catalyst. The high ORR electrocatalytic activity of these Fe-N-C catalysts is credited to the synergy between nitrogen-moieties, specifically pyrrolic-N, pyridinic-N, and graphitic-N, and iron in addition to the high mesoporosity that facilitate an effective reaction path in boosting the electrocatalytic activity and stability.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Article number | 230819 |
| Journal | Journal of Power Sources |
| Volume | 520 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Feb 1 2022 |
Funding
The present work was financially supported by the Estonian Research Council (grants PRG723, PRG4, MOBJD671) and M-ERA.Net project “C-MOF.cell” (SLTKT20445). This research was also supported by the EU through the European Regional Development Fund (TK141, “Advanced materials and high-technology devices for energy recuperation systems” and TK134, “Emerging orders in quantum and nanomaterials”). A. Serov, M. Odgaard, B. Zulevi and T. Reshetenko gratefully acknowledge financial support from the US DOE EERE (DE-EE0008419 “Active and Durable PGM-free Cathodic Electrocatalysts for Fuel Cell Application”). A. Serov and E. Creel gratefully acknowledge financial support from the Oak Ridge National Laboratory SEED 10609 project “Single-Atom Catalysts for CO2 Conversion”. T. Reshetenko is grateful to funding from US Office of Naval Research (N00014-18-1-2127). Aberration-corrected STEM was conducted at the Center for Nanophase Materials Sciences, which is a DOE Office of Science User Facility. The present work was financially supported by the Estonian Research Council (grants PRG723 , PRG4 , MOBJD671 ) and M-ERA.Net project “ C-MOF.cell ” ( SLTKT20445 ). This research was also supported by the EU through the European Regional Development Fund ( TK141 , “Advanced materials and high-technology devices for energy recuperation systems” and TK134, “Emerging orders in quantum and nanomaterials”). A. Serov, M. Odgaard, B. Zulevi and T. Reshetenko gratefully acknowledge financial support from the US DOE EERE ( DE-EE0008419 “Active and Durable PGM-free Cathodic Electrocatalysts for Fuel Cell Application”). A. Serov and E. Creel gratefully acknowledge financial support from the Oak Ridge National Laboratory SEED 10609 project “Single-Atom Catalysts for CO 2 Conversion”. T. Reshetenko is grateful to funding from US Office of Naval Research ( N00014-18-1-2127 ). Aberration-corrected STEM was conducted at the Center for Nanophase Materials Sciences, which is a DOE Office of Science User Facility.
| Funders | Funder number |
|---|---|
| US DOE EERE | DE-EE0008419 |
| Office of Naval Research | N00014-18-1-2127 |
| Office of Science | |
| Oak Ridge National Laboratory | 10609 |
| European Commission | |
| Eesti Teadusagentuur | PRG4, PRG723, MOBJD671 |
| European Regional Development Fund | TK141, TK134 |
Keywords
- Electrocatalysis
- Fe-N-C catalyst
- Mesoporous carbon
- Nitrogen doping
- Oxygen reduction reaction
- Proton-exchange membrane fuel cell
