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Highly Efficient Oxygen Reduction Reaction Fe-N-C Cathode in Long-durable Direct Glycol Fuel Cells

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Abstract

The oxygen reduction reaction in direct glycol fuel cells heavily relies on noble metal-based electrocatalysts. In this work, novel Pt group metal-free catalysts based on porous Fe-N-C materials are successfully synthesized as catalysts with high activity and durability for the cathode oxygen reduction reaction (ORR). Through the encapsulation of NH4SCN salt, the surface elements and pore structure of the catalyst are effectively changed, and the active sites of Fe effectively are increased. The half-wave potential of the best Fe-N-C catalyst was −0.02 V vs. Hg/HgO in an alkaline environment. The porous Fe-N-C catalyst possesses a large specific surface area(1158 m2/g) and shows good activity and tolerance to glycol. The direct glycol fuel cell with the Fe-N-C cathode achieved a maximum power density of 62.2 mW/cm2 with 4 mol/L KOH and 4 mol/L glycol solution at 25 °C and maintained discharge for more than 250 h at a 50 A/cm2 current density.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the National Key R&D Program of China (No.2021YFB2400400), the China Postdoctoral Science Foundation(No. 2020M673408), the National Natural Science Foundation of China(No. 21905220), the Key Research and Development Plan of Shaanxi Province, China (Nos.2018ZDXM-GY-135, 2021JLM-36), the Fundamental Research Funds for “Young Talent Support Plan” of Xi’an Jiaotong University, China(No. HG6J003), the “1000-Plan Program” of Shaanxi Province and the Velux Foundations Through the Research Center V-Sustain(No.9455).

We also thank Mr LI Chao at the Instrument Analysis Center of Xi’an Jiaotong University for conducting the field emission transmission electron microscopy analysis.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Chemical Engineering and Technology, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an, 710049, P. R. China

    Chengyong Shu, Zhuofan Gan, Jia Zhou, Zhen Wang & Wei Tang

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  1. Chengyong Shu
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  2. Zhuofan Gan
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  3. Jia Zhou
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  4. Zhen Wang
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  5. Wei Tang
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Correspondence to Wei Tang.

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The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

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Shu, C., Gan, Z., Zhou, J. et al. Highly Efficient Oxygen Reduction Reaction Fe-N-C Cathode in Long-durable Direct Glycol Fuel Cells. Chem. Res. Chin. Univ. 38, 1268–1274 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40242-022-2223-6

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