We elucidate the origin of oxygen
reduction reaction (ORR) activity enhancement on the FeN4 site at the edge of a pyrolyzed Fe-N-C catalyst (FeN4-edge) using a combination of density functional theory calculations
and microkinetic simulations. The presence of graphitic edges facilitates
the formation of FeN4 active sites. Majority of these edge
active sites have quite similar activities as in the case of a typical
FeN4 active site in the interior of graphene (FeN4G). The ORR activity enhancement of this catalyst originates from
the formation of two unique tilted-FeN4 configurations
at the edge of graphene, which have remarkable ORR activities. The
first configuration is the tilted FeN4 site at the zigzag
edge, which can positively shift the onset potential for the associative
reduction mechanism about 0.13 V higher than that on the typical FeN4G system. The second configuration is the tilted FeN4 site at the armchair edge, which has a low O2 dissociation
energy and a high onset potential for the dissociative reduction mechanism
(0.26 V higher than the FeN4G system).