Molecular iron phthalocyanine (FePc) possesses an FeN4 active site structure similar to practical pyrolyzed Fe/N/C catalysts for the acidic oxygen reduction reaction (ORR), making it an ideal model system to derive the degradation mechanism of such catalysts. However, the degradation mechanism of FePc during the acidic ORR has been largely unclear to date. Herein, five most likely degradation factors affecting FePc-based ORR activity are individually investigated and compared. The attack by free radicals is found to be the main reason for the instability of FePc. Assisted by the combination of several spectroscopic methods, we successfully identify the degradation products and then propose a full structural evolution of molecular FePc degradation. Finally, high similarity in the decay mechanism between molecular FePc and practical Fe/N/C catalysts was present. This study provides a clear picture of the currently missing degradation mechanism of molecular FePc during acidic ORR, which will assist future investigations on the performance degradation of practical Fe/N/C catalysts.

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The effect of porosity on the interface microenvironment and catalytic performance of carbon dioxide reduction reaction (CO 2 RR) is still unclear for iron-and nitrogen-doped carbon-based (Fe/N/C) materials, and previous studies mainly focus on aqueous electrode test conditions rather than a practical working environment. Herein, several Fe/N/C-based catalysts with very different pore structures were prepared and compared to understand how the surface area and micropores affect the CO 2 RR between aqueous electrode test and practical working conditions with a solid−gas−liquid triple-phase boundary. The apparent current density correlates positively to the surface area in both test conditions. The onset current density where hydrogen evolution reaction starts is irrelevant to the micropore fraction in the aqueous electrode test but correlates negatively to the micropore fraction in a practical working condition. The inconsistency is attributed to different reaction interfaces in both cases, resulting in different interface microenvironments in different pore size ranges. This work helps in designing porous electrocatalysts for CO 2 RR or beyond.