Highly stable N-containing polymer-based Fe/Nx/C electrocatalyst for alkaline anion exchange membrane fuel cell applications

A cost-effective electrocatalyst with high activity and stability was developed. The Fe-Nx and pyridinic-N active sites were embedded in nitrogen-doped mesoporous carbon nanomaterial by carbonization at high temperature. The electrocatalyst exhibited excellent electrochemical performance for the oxygen reduction reaction, with high onset potential and half-wave potential values (Eonset= 1.10 V and E1/2 = 0.944 V) than 20 wt % Pt/C catalyst (1.04 and 0.910 V). The mass activity of the Schiff base network (SNW) based SNW-Fe/N/C@800 degrees electrocatalyst (0.64 mA mg-1 @ 1 V) reached about half of the commercial Pt/C electrocatalyst (1.35 mA mg-1 @ 1 V). The electrocatalyst followed the 4-electron transfer mechanism due to very low hydrogen peroxide yield (H2O2 < 1.5%) was obtained. In addition, this electrocatalyst with dual active sites showed high stability during cyclic voltammetry and chronoamperometry measurements. More importantly, the electrocatalyst also demonstrated the power density of 266 mW cm-2 in the alkaline anions exchange membrane fuel cell (AEMFC) test, indicating its prospective application for fuel cells.