Tailoring FeN 4 Sites with Edge Enrichment for Boosted Oxygen Reduction Performance in Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell

Xiaogang Fu, Na Li, Bohua Ren, Gaopeng Jiang, Yanru Liu, Fathy M. Hassan, Dong Su, Jianbing Zhu, Lin Yang, Zhengyu Bai, Zachary P. Cano, Aiping Yu, Zhongwei Chen

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

203 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Transition metal atoms with corresponding nitrogen coordination are widely proposed as catalytic centers for the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) in metal–nitrogen–carbon (M–N–C) catalysts. Here, an effective strategy that can tailor Fe–N–C catalysts to simultaneously enrich the number of active sites while boosting their intrinsic activity and utilization is reported. This is achieved by edge engineering of FeN 4 sites via a simple ammonium chloride salt-assisted approach, where a high fraction of FeN 4 sites are preferentially generated and hosted in a graphene-like porous scaffold. Theoretical calculations reveal that the FeN 4 moieties with adjacent pore defects are likely to be more active than the nondefective configuration. Coupled with the facilitated accessibility of active sites, this prepared catalyst, when applied in a practical H 2 –air proton exchange membrane fuel cell, delivers a remarkable peak power density of 0.43 W cm −2 , ranking it as one of the most active M–N–C catalysts reported to date. This work provides a new avenue for boosting ORR activity by edge manipulation of FeN 4 sites.

Original languageEnglish
Article number1803737
JournalAdvanced Energy Materials
Volume9
Issue number11
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Mar 20 2019
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • FeN sites
  • M–N–C catalysts
  • edge engineering
  • fuel cells
  • oxygen reduction reaction

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Renewable Energy, Sustainability and the Environment
  • General Materials Science

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