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

Journal Article · · Advanced Energy Materials
ORCiD logo [1];  [2];  [3]; ORCiD logo [3];  [3];  [3]; ORCiD logo [2];  [3];  [4];  [4];  [3];  [3]; ORCiD logo [3]
  1. Henan Normal Univ., Xinxiang (China). Key Lab. of Green Chemical Media and Reaction; Univ. of Waterloo, ON (Canada)
  2. Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL), Upton, NY (United States)
  3. Univ. of Waterloo, ON (Canada)
  4. Henan Normal Univ., Xinxiang (China). Key Lab. of Green Chemical Media and Reaction
+ Show Author Affiliations

Transition metal atoms with corresponding nitrogen-coordination (MNx moieties) 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 boost their intrinsic activity and utilization is reported. This is achieved by edge engineering of FeN4 sites via a simple ammonium chloride salt-assisted approach, where a high fraction of FeN4 sites are preferentially generated and hosted in a graphene-like porous scaffold. Theoretical calculations demonstrate that the FeN4 moieties with adjacent pore defects are likely to be more active than the non-defective configuration. Coupled with the facilitated accessibility of active sites, this prepared catalyst when applied in a practical H2-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 presents a new avenue for boosting ORR activity by edge manipulation of FeN4 sites.

Research Organization:
Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL), Upton, NY (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE; USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES) (SC-22)
Grant/Contract Number:
SC0012704
OSTI ID:
1507104
Report Number(s):
BNL--211552-2019-JAAM
Journal Information:
Advanced Energy Materials, Journal Name: Advanced Energy Materials Journal Issue: 11 Vol. 9; ISSN 1614-6832
Publisher:
WileyCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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Cited By (8)

Engineering Local Coordination Environments of Atomically Dispersed and Heteroatom‐Coordinated Single Metal Site Electrocatalysts for Clean Energy‐Conversion journal November 2019
A ZIF-derived hierarchically porous Fe–Zn–N–C catalyst synthesized via a two-stage pyrolysis for the highly efficient oxygen reduction reaction in both acidic and alkaline media journal January 2019
Single atom electrocatalysts supported on graphene or graphene-like carbons journal January 2019
Tunable and convenient synthesis of highly dispersed Fe–N x catalysts from graphene-supported Zn–Fe-ZIF for efficient oxygen reduction in acidic media journal January 2019
Synergistic catalysis on Fe–N x sites and Fe nanoparticles for efficient synthesis of quinolines and quinazolinones via oxidative coupling of amines and aldehydes journal January 2019
Single iron atoms stabilized by microporous defects of biomass-derived carbon aerogels as high-performance cathode electrocatalysts for aluminum–air batteries journal January 2019
Preparation of Fe–N–C catalysts with FeN x ( x = 1, 3, 4) active sites and comparison of their activities for the oxygen reduction reaction and performances in proton exchange membrane fuel cells journal January 2019
Boosting the performance of the Fe–N–C catalyst for the oxygen reduction reaction by introducing single-walled carbon nanohorns as branches on carbon fibers journal January 2019

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29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY
FeN4 sites
M-N-C catalysts
edge engineering
fuel cells
oxygen reduction reaction