Porous carbon supported Fe–N–C for applications as cathodic electrocatalysts in fuel cells

The carbons incorporating FeNx electrocatalysts (FeTEPA/C-x) were fabricated via a facile chemical process. The nitrogen-rich species (tetraethylenepentamine) were complexed with iron precursors (FeCl3) on carbon blacks (Vulcan XC-72) and treated under high temperature in a nitrogen atmosphere. These resultant catalysts were characterized by a variety of different spectroscopic and analytical techniques such as X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) measurements. Experimentally, the electrocatalytic performance of oxygen reduction for FeTEPA/C-2.7, which was found to have an approximate four electron transfer, was observed to be surpassing among all FeTEPA/C-x electrocatalysts. This may be attributed to its unique properties, including the higher nitrogen content, more pyridinic-N sites and probable formation of Fe–N–C active centers which were evidenced by XAS.

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► Carbon incorporated non-noble FeNx catalysts were prepared by using a simple method.
► ORR activity of synthesized FeTEPA/C-2.7 catalysts was superior among all the catalysts.
► This may be due to the higher N content, more pyridinic-N sites and formation of Fe–N–C centers.