Bimetallic FeCo−N−C Catalyst for Efficient Oxygen Reduction Reaction

Abstract

Oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) is being deeply studied because of its significance in energy storage and conversion. It is an urgent and challenging task to explore low‐cost ORR catalysts with excellent activity and outstanding long‐term stability. Herein, we report an efficient bimetallic FeCo catalyst based on nitrogen‐doped carbon (FeCo−NC) for ORR by pyrolysis of FeCo‐1,10‐phenanthroline complexes (FeCo‐phen) supported on ZIF‐8. The as‐synthesized FeCo−NC catalyst shows excellent ORR activity, improved durability and excellent methanol cross poisoning resistance, which are ascribed to the formation of metal‐N−C active sites, the synergistic effect between Fe and Co, as well as the porous structure.

Hierarchical High-Throughput Screening of the Ligand Effect of Electrocatalytic Oxygen Reduction on Dual-Metal Atomic Catalysts (M1M2N6–R): A First-Principles Study

“…Since the catalytic performance is highly dependent on the central metals in DM–N–C catalysts, the coordination environment of the central metals plays an important role in tuning the catalytic activity. One common approach is the in-plane modification of substituting central metals, i.e., Fe, Co, and Ni, with d electrons larger than 5 ( d e > 5), which were found to possess better ORR performance . FeCo–N–C has been proposed as a potential ORR candidate with a limiting potential ( U L ) of 0.86 V compared to Fe–N–C (0.84 V) and Co–N–C (0.81 V) by performing a first-principles calculation.…”

“…Substantial efforts have been devoted to the design and development of low-cost and high-activity ORR electrocatalysts. 1 Single-metal site nitrogen-doped carbon catalysts (M−N−C), serving as one of the typical singleatom catalysts (SAC) and alternatives to Pt/C, have been synthesized and demonstrated comparable catalytic activity to commercial Pt(111) at 0.80 V. 2 Dual-metal−nitrogen-carbon (DM−N−C) catalysts further extend the concept of M−N−C by introducing another metal to bind with the surrounding N atoms. A series of dual-metal electrocatalysts have been successfully synthesized in experiments, exhibiting superior stability and activity in acidic solutions than M−N−C catalysts.…”

“…One common approach is the inplane modification of substituting central metals, i.e., Fe, Co, and Ni, with d electrons larger than 5 (d e > 5), which were found to possess better ORR performance. 2 FeCo−N−C has been proposed as a potential ORR candidate with a limiting potential (U L ) of 0.86 V compared to Fe−N−C (0.84 V) and Co−N−C (0.81 V) by performing a first-principles calculation. Through screening a large number of homonuclear and heteronuclear atoms, CoNi−N−C has been explored to possess the best ORR activity with a high U L = 0.88 V. 7 NiFe catalyst was prepared by pyrolysis experiment, exhibiting an U L of 0.82 V. 8 In addition, pre-3d TMs (d e ≤ 5) have also been employed to affect ORR activity through tuning the charge variation, i.e., Ti could regulate the d-band center of the Fe in Fe−O−Ti catalyst, 9 and Mn-doped Co−N−C showed good ORR activity (U L = 0.82 V), long durability, and high methanol resistance in acidic electrolyte.…”