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Porous Carbon Spheres with Ultra-fine Fe2N Active Phase for Efficient Electrocatalytic Oxygen Reduction

  • Topical Collection: Carbon-Based Materials for Energy Storage
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Abstract

In this work, hierarchically porous carbon spheres co-doped by iron and nitrogen were synthesized via in situ dehalogenation. The rich porous structure and relatively high specific surface area (210 m2/g) facilitate the formation of an ultra-fine Fe2N active phase and FeN4 active centers within the carbon matrix. Transmission electron microscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy analysis further reveal the presence of a dominant Fe2N phase and minor FeN4 bonds in the as-prepared Fe-N-C-pd-800 samples. Because of this, the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) process can more readily take place on Fe2N than on FeN4, and the Fe2N phase enriched Fe-N-C-pd-800 carbon spheres exhibit a promising onset potential (Eonset=1.02 V) and half-wave potential (E1/2=0.86 V) in alkaline media. In addition, Fe-N-C-pd-800 also shows excellent methanol resistance and long-cycling stability.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (51872209, 51772219), the Zhejiang Provincial Natural Science Foundation of China (LZ17E020002, LZ21E020001) and Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Nano-materials and Chemistry Key Laboratory, Institute of New Materials and Industrial Technologies, Wenzhou University, Wenzhou, 325035, People’s Republic of China

    Wanyi Wu, Mengkun Wang, Huihui Huang, Wenxian Gu, Chengzhan Yan, Guang Chen, Dewu Yin, Huile Jin & Shun Wang

  2. Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Windsor, Windsor, ON, N9B3P4, Canada

    Jichang Wang

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  1. Wanyi Wu
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  2. Mengkun Wang
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Correspondence to Shun Wang.

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Wu, W., Wang, M., Huang, H. et al. Porous Carbon Spheres with Ultra-fine Fe2N Active Phase for Efficient Electrocatalytic Oxygen Reduction. J. Electron. Mater. 50, 3078–3083 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11664-021-08824-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11664-021-08824-9

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