Iron and Nitrogen Co-doped Carbide-Derived Carbon and Carbon Nanotube Composite Catalysts for Oxygen Reduction Reaction

Replacing Pt-based catalysts with noble-metal free catalysts for the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) is one of the most important topics currently in electrocatalysis. Iron- and nitrogen-doped carbon materials have shown great promise in this area. In this work, we demonstrate the remarkable electrocatalytic activity towards the ORR of carbide-derived carbon (CDC) and multi-walled carbon nanotube (MWCNT) composite catalysts. The CDC material is synthesized from titanium carbide and doped using 1,10-phenanthroline and iron (II) acetate. The material is then mixed with MWCNTs and further modified with dicyandiamide (DCDA) and additional iron by using a multi-step pyrolysis procedure. The morphology, structure, porosity, and elemental composition are then comprehensively studied with scanning electron microscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, N, physisorption, and inductively coupled plasma mass spectroscopy. The electrocatalytic activity of the catalysts for the ORR is studied using the rotating disk electrode method and in a single-cell anion exchange membrane fuel cell using the Tokuyama A201 membrane.