Porous Fe-Nx/C hybrid derived from bi-metal organic frameworks as high efficient electrocatalyst for oxygen reduction reaction

•The FeIII-modified IRMOF-3 was first developed by sample refluxing.•The CPCs electrocatalyst was synthesized by pyrolyzing FeIII-modified IRMOF-3.•The CPCs electrocatalyst showed excellent catalytic activity and durability for ORR.

A simple, low-cost and large-scale synthesis method for the carbonized porous cubes (CPCs) containing Fe and N co-doped porous carbon hybrid (Fe-Nx/C) with controlled-morphology, uniform elemental distribution and well-defined pore size is developed by pyrolyzing bimetallic FeIII-modified IRMOF-3 cubes in Argon atmosphere at 800 °C. Furtherly, the CPCs are used as the electrocatalyst for oxygen reduction reaction in alkaline solution. Impressively, the CPCs hybrid exhibits a superior electrocatalytic activity with high onset potential (0.93 V) and half-wave potential (0.78 V), and excellent stability, which is attributed to the synergistic effect of its high the surface to volume ratio, well-defined pore size, multi-active composition and high exposed catalytic active sites. We believe the materials based on earth-abundant elements have a huge potential to apply in catalysis, energy, and environment.

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