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Atomic Fe in N-doped carbon (FeNC) electrocatalysts for oxygen (O 2 ) reduction at the cathode of proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) are the most promising alternative to platinum-group-metal catalysts. Despite recent progress on atomic FeNC O 2 reduction, their controlled synthesis and stability for practical applications remains challenging. A two-step synthesis approach has recently led to significant advances in terms of Fe-loading and mass activity; however, the Fe utilisation remains low owing to the difficulty of building scaffolds with sufficient porosity that electrochemically exposes the active sites. Herein, we addressed this issue by coordinating Fe in a highly porous nitrogen doped carbon support (~3295 m 2 g -1 ), prepared by pyrolysis of inexpensive 2,4,6triaminopyrimidine and a Mg 2+ salt active site template and porogen. Upon Fe coordination, a high electrochemical active site density of 2.54×10 19 sites g FeNC -1 and a record 52% FeN x electrochemical utilisation based on in situ nitrite stripping was achieved. The Fe single atoms are characterised pre-and post-electrochemical accelerated stress testing by aberration-corrected high-angle annular dark field scanning transmission electron microscopy, showing no Fe clustering. Moreover, ex situ X-ray absorption spectroscopy and low-temperature Mössbauer spectroscopy suggest the presence of penta-coordinated Fe sites, which were further studied by density functional theory calculations. catalysts [7,8] or introducing axial ligands. Different FeN x active site axial ligands have been recently proposed following in situ Mössbauer, x-ray absorption spectroscopy, nuclear inelastic scattering or electron paramagnetic resonance. [9,10] Some of them bearing close resemblance to biological systems, [11] such as N axially coordinated FeN 4 sites resembling heme. [12] However, spectroscopic discernibility is often challenging in these typically heterogeneous FeNC catalysts, [13] therefore experimental structure-activity correlations are hard to conclude. To overcome experimental limitations, the effect of O axial ligands on model FeNC systems has been calculated by density functional theory, [14,15] although the effect of other possible axial ligands on different Fe sites (pyridinic and pyrrolic) has not been fully considered. [16] Alternatively, to improve catalyst performance, the number of active sites can be increased, an approach which has shown significant progress in recent years. [17] To selectively form a high density of atomic Fe sites and avoid undesired Fe-induced carbothermal reduction, Fellinger and coworkers first identified that the high temperature pyrolytic step (800-1000ºC) should be decoupled from the Fe loading, by using a suitable N x site template. [17][18][19][20] The decoupled two-step synthetic approach to prepare FeNC O 2 reduction catalysts has led to remarkable progress; Mehmood et al. recently showed bulk FeN x site density (SD Mössbauer, , Eq. 1-2) up to 7.4×10 20 sites g FeNC -1 . The reported in situ nitrite strippin...

The electrochemical CO2 reduction reaction (CO2RR) to value‐added chemicals with renewable electricity is a promising method to decarbonize parts of the chemical industry. Recently, single metal atoms in nitrogen‐doped carbon (MNC) have emerged as potential electrocatalysts for CO2RR to CO with high activity and faradaic efficiency, although the reaction limitation for CO2RR to CO is unclear. To understand the comparison of intrinsic activity of different MNCs, two catalysts are synthesized through a decoupled two‐step synthesis approach of high temperature pyrolysis and low temperature metalation (Fe or Ni). The highly meso‐porous structure results in the highest reported electrochemical active site utilization based on in situ nitrite stripping; up to 59±6% for NiNC. Ex situ X‐ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) confirms the penta‐coordinated nature of the active sites. The catalysts are amongst the most active in the literature for CO2 reduction to CO. The density functional theory calculations (DFT) show that their binding to the reaction intermediates approximates to that of Au surfaces. However, it is found that the turnover frequencies (TOFs) of the most active catalysts for CO evolution converge, suggesting a fundamental ceiling to the catalytic rates.

Atomic Fe in N-doped carbon (FeNC) electrocatalysts for oxygen (O2) reduction at the cathode of proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) are the most promising alternative to platinum-group-metal catalysts. Despite recent progress on atomic FeNC O2 reduction, their controlled synthesis and stability for practical applications remains challenging. A two-step synthesis approach has recently led to significant advances in terms of Fe-loading and mass activity; however, the Fe utilisation remains low owing to the difficulty of building scaffolds with sufficient porosity that electrochemically exposes the active sites. Herein, we addressed this issue by coordinating Fe in a highly porous nitrogen doped carbon support (~3295 m2 g-1), prepared by pyrolysis of inexpensive 2,4,6-triaminopyrimidine and a Mg2+ salt active site template and porogen. Upon Fe coordination, a high electrochemical active site density of 2.54×10^19 sites gFeNC-1 and a record 52% FeNx electrochemical utilisation based on in situ nitrite stripping was achieved. The Fe single atoms are characterised pre- and post-electrochemical accelerated stress testing by aberration-corrected high-angle annular dark field scanning transmission electron microscopy, showing no Fe clustering. Moreover, ex situ X-ray absorption spectroscopy and low-temperature Mössbauer spectroscopy suggest the presence of penta-coordinated Fe sites, which were further studied by density functional theory calculations.

We examine the performance of a number of single-atom M–N/C electrocatalysts with a common structure in order to deconvolute the activity of the framework N/C support from the metal M–N4 sites in M–N/Cs. The formation of the N/C framework with coordinating nitrogen sites is performed using zinc as a templating agent. After the formation of the electrically conducting carbon–nitrogen metal-coordinating network, we (trans)metalate with different metals producing a range of different catalysts (Fe–N/C, Co–N/C, Ni–N/C, Sn–N/C, Sb–N/C, and Bi–N/C) without the formation of any metal particles. In these materials, the structure of the carbon/nitrogen framework remains unchangedonly the coordinated metal is substituted. We assess the performance of the subsequent catalysts in acid, near-neutral, and alkaline environments toward the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) and ascribe and quantify the performance to a combination of metal site activity and activity of the carbon/nitrogen framework. The ORR activity of the carbon/nitrogen framework is about 1000-fold higher in alkaline than it is in acid, suggesting a change in mechanism. At 0.80 VRHE, only Fe and Co contribute ORR activity significantly beyond that provided by the carbon/nitrogen framework at all pH values studied. In acid and near-neutral pH values (pH 0.3 and 5.2, respectively), Fe shows a 30-fold improvement and Co shows a 5-fold improvement, whereas in alkaline pH (pH 13), both Fe and Co show a 7-fold improvement beyond the baseline framework activity. The site density of the single metal atom sites is estimated using the nitrite adsorption and stripping method. This method allows us to deconvolute the framework sites and metal-based active sites. The framework site density of catalysts is estimated as 7.8 × 1018 sites g–1. The metal M−N4 site densities in Fe−N/C and Co–N/C are 9.4 × 1018 sites–1 and 4.8 × 1018 sites g–1, respectively.