FeN stabilized FeN@Pt core–shell nanostructures for oxygen reduction reaction. Issue 8 (23rd January 2015)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Ding, Xiao; Yin, Shibin; An, Kang; Luo, Lin; Shi, Nai; Qiang, Yinghuai; Pasupathi, Sivakumar; Pollet, Bruno G.; Shen, Pei Kang
• Is Part Of: Journal of materials chemistry. Volume 3:Issue 8(2015)
• Page Start: 4462
• Page End: 4469
• Publication Date: 2015-01-23
• Subjects: Materials -- Research -- Periodicals; Chemistry, Analytic -- Periodicals; Environmental sciences -- Research -- Periodicals; 543.0284
• DOI: 10.1039/c4ta06499b
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 2050-7488

Abstract

Abstract : The PtFe3 N/C has good activity for ORR, which also has amazing stability even after 30k cycles accelerated durability test. Abstract : The high cost and poor stability of catalysts are the main obstacles for the commercialization of proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cells, particularly, the catalysts for the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR). Here, PtFe nanocatalysts with different Pt to Fe atomic ratios are prepared by the impregnation-reduction method and subsequently thermal annealing in NH3 at ambient pressure. XRD, STEM, XPS and ICP are employed to investigate the corresponding physico-chemical properties of the as-prepared catalysts, which demonstrate that the samples are Pt-rich core–shell nanostructures. The cyclic voltammetry method is used to investigate their electrochemical performance, and the results show that these catalysts display high ORR activity in O2 -saturated 0.1 mol L −1 HClO4 aqueous solutions, with PtFe3 N/C displaying the highest mass activity of 369.32 mA mg −1 Pt in 0.90 V vs. RHE, which is about 3 times higher than that of a commercial Pt/C catalyst (129.15 mA mg −1 Pt) at the same potential. Moreover, it is also found that the as-prepared catalysts are almost 2 times more stable than the commercial Pt/C. The ORR activity is slightly affected after 30k cycles in O2 -saturated HClO4 aqueous solutions. This low cost ORR catalyst, which exhibits a high performance, opens up possibilities for designing core–shell nanostructures for energy conversion.