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Tailored synthesis of hybrid iron-nitrogen-graphene with reduced carbon xerogel as an efficient electrocatalyst towards oxygen reduction

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Abstract

In this study, a non-precious metal-based electrocatalyst consisting of nitrogen-doped iron-coated reduced graphene oxide (FeNG) on carbon xerogel towards oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) in alkaline media is reported. Herein, we describe a facile three-step synthesis route towards enhanced ORR activity. The effect of pyrolysis temperature and the resulting structural variations of the designated catalyst towards ORR were investigated. The as-synthesized carbon xerogel samples were reduced (rCX) and then pyrolyzed at different temperatures, viz., 700, 900, and 1100 °C, followed by the incorporation of FeNG, and their performance towards ORR was studied. The resultant rCXFeNG (reduced carbon xerogel-iron-nitrogen-doped graphene) catalyst pyrolyzed at an optimum temperature of 1100 °C (rCXFeNG-1100) showed enhanced electrocatalytic performance towards ORR and exhibited an onset potential of 0.84 V vs. RHE (reversible hydrogen electrode). Besides, it is remarkable that rCXFeNG-1100 delivers a limiting current density of 5.55 mA cm−2, which is fairly equivalent to that of the commercial Pt/C electrocatalyst. It is noteworthy that the rCXFeNG-1100 electrocatalyst showed a four-electron transfer pathway for ORR and showed better stability and improved durability outperforming the commercial Pt/C electrocatalyst. The present study opens up a promising approach for the design and fabrication of cost-effective non-precious ORR electrocatalysts for alkaline polymer electrolyte fuel cells.

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Acknowledgments

We acknowledge DST-FIST for providing the instrumentation facility to the Department of Chemical Engineering, IIT Madras.

Funding

The authors would like to thank the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras for the financial support under the Institute Postdoctoral Fellowship Scheme to S. Seetharaman. The authors are thankful to the Science and Engineering Research Board (SERB), Department of Science and Technology (DST), Government of India, for providing the financial support to S. Vinod Selvaganesh (PDF/2016/002945) under the National Postdoctoral Fellowship Scheme.

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  1. Department of Chemical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Chennai, India

    S. Seetharaman, S. Vinod Selvaganesh & Raghuram Chetty

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  1. S. Seetharaman
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  2. S. Vinod Selvaganesh
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  3. Raghuram Chetty
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Correspondence to S. Seetharaman.

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Seetharaman, S., Vinod Selvaganesh, S. & Chetty, R. Tailored synthesis of hybrid iron-nitrogen-graphene with reduced carbon xerogel as an efficient electrocatalyst towards oxygen reduction. Ionics 26, 6255–6264 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11581-020-03744-w

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