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Title: Self-Sacrificial Template Synthesis of Fe-N-C Catalysts with Dense Active Sites Deposited on A Porous Carbon Network for High Performance in PEMFC

Journal Article · · Advanced Energy Materials
 [1];  [2];  [3];  [4];  [5];  [5];  [5];  [4];  [6];  [2];  [4];  [2]; ORCiD logo [7]; ORCiD logo [8];  [4]
  1. Northeastern Univ., Boston, MA (United States); Univ. Montpellier (France)
  2. Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
  3. Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL), Upton, NY (United States)
  4. Northeastern Univ., Boston, MA (United States)
  5. Univ. of New Hampshire, Durham, NH (United States)
  6. Univ. of Connecticut, Storrs, CT (United States)
  7. Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
  8. Univ. Montpellier (France)
+ Show Author Affiliations

In this study, iron-nitrogen-carbon (Fe-N-C) single-atom catalysts are promising sustainable alternatives to the costly and scarce platinum (Pt) to catalyze the oxygen reduction reactions (ORR) at the cathode of proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs). However, Fe-N-C cathodes for PEMFC are made thicker than Pt/C ones, in order to compensate for the lower intrinsic ORR activity and site density of Fe-N-C materials. The thick electrodes are bound with mass transport issues that limit their performance at high current densities, especially in H2/air PEMFCs. Practical Fe-N-C electrodes must combine high intrinsic ORR activity, high site density, and fast mass transport. Herein, it has achieved an improved combination of these properties with a Fe-N-C catalyst prepared via a two-step synthesis approach, constructing first a porous zinc-nitrogen-carbon (Zn-N-C) substrate, followed by transmetallating Zn by Fe via chemical vapor deposition. A cathode comprising this Fe-N-C catalyst has exhibited a maximum power density of 0.53 W cm-2 in H2/air PEMFC at 80 °C. The improved power density is associated with the hierarchical porosity of the Zn-N-C substrate of this work, which is achieved by epitaxial growth of ZIF-8 onto g-C3N4, leading to a micro-mesoporous substrate.

Research Organization:
Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL), Upton, NY (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES). Scientific User Facilities (SUF); USDOE Laboratory Directed Research and Development (LDRD) Program
Grant/Contract Number:
SC0012704; EE0008416
OSTI ID:
2349259
Alternate ID(s):
OSTI ID: 2367228; OSTI ID: 2438735
Report Number(s):
BNL--225595-2024-JAAM; {"","Journal ID: ISSN 1614-6832"}
Journal Information:
Advanced Energy Materials, Journal Name: Advanced Energy Materials Journal Issue: 20 Vol. 14; ISSN 1614-6832
Publisher:
WileyCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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proton exchange membrane fuel cells
oxygen reduction reaction
Fe-N-C
chemical vapour deposition