Nitrogen-doped porous carbon nanofiber based oxygen reduction reaction electrocatalysts with high activity and durability

•Nitrogen doped porous carbon nanofibers (N-PCNF) were prepared by electrospinning method.•N-PCNF could be used as excellent ORR catalyst both in basic and acidic solution.•N-PCNF could be superior to carbon black and un-doped PCNF as the support to support platinum nanoparticles.•N-PCNF can not only work as the non-precious ORR catalyst but also promising support.

Sluggish oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) is one of the critical challenges in polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) technologies. Carbon materials doped with various heteroatoms have been exactly proved as promising alternative catalysts and even the catalyst supports for the ORR in fuel cells. In this work, we have developed nitrogen-doped porous carbon nanofibers (N-PCNF) as novel ORR catalysts. The obtained N-PCNF shows excellent electrocatalytic performance and durability for ORR both in basic and acid solutions. Furthermore, the N-PCNF acted as support to deposited platinum (Pt) nanoparticles, the Pt nanoparticles with uniform size were well dispersed not only on the surface but also the cross-section of N-PCNF. The electrocatalytic activity and stability of the resultant Pt/N-PCNF along with the commercial one (JM20) were investigated. As a result, the Pt/N-PCNF exhibited enhanced ORR activity when compared with Pt supported on PCNF (Pt/PCNF) as well as the state-of-the-art JM20. In addition, enhanced stability of Pt/N-PCNF, coupled with ORR activity and electrochemical surface area (ECSA) retention after accelerated durability test (ADT) in acid media was observed. These results indicated that the N-PCNF can not only work as the non-precious electrocatalysts toward ORR, but also a promising candidate as catalyst supports.