MOF-Templated Assembly Approach for Fe3 C Nanoparticles Encapsulated in Bamboo-Like N-Doped CNTs: Highly Efficient Oxygen Reduction under Acidic and Basic Conditions.
Developing high-performance non-precious metal catalysts (NPMCs) for the oxygen-reduction reaction (ORR) is of critical importance for sustainable energy conversion. We report a novel NPMC consisting of iron carbide (Fe3 C) nanoparticles encapsulated in N-doped bamboo-like carbon nanotubes (b-NCNTs), synthesized by a new metal-organic framework (MOF)-templated assembly approach. The electrocatalyst exhibits excellent ORR activity in 0.1 m KOH (0.89 V at -1 mA cm-2 ) and in 0.5 m H2 SO4 (0.73 V at -1 mA cm-2 ) with a hydrogen peroxide yield of below 1 % in both electrolytes. Due to encapsulation of the Fe3 C nanoparticles inside porous b-NCNTs, the reported NPMC retains its high ORR activity after around 70 hours in both alkaline and acidic media.
['Aijaz|Arshad|A|', 'Masa|Justus|J|', 'Rösler|Christoph|C|', 'Antoni|Hendrik|H|', 'Fischer|Roland A|RA|', 'Schuhmann|Wolfgang|W|', 'Muhler|Martin|M|http://orcid.org/0000-0001-5343-6922']
oxygen-reduction reaction iron carbides metal-organic frameworks heterogeneous catalysis nanostructured materials