Bulk Production of Non‐Precious Metal Catalysts with High Surface Area and Excellent Activity in the Oxygen Reduction Reaction

Abstract

AbstractDeveloping oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) electrocatalysts, which have non‐precious metal or metal‐free features, high performance, and stability to enhance the whole price/performance ratio, has become a great challenge in the practical application of fuel cells and zinc−air batteries. Here, we report the bulk preparation of the N, Fe co‐doped carbon with high surface area (NFe−C‐HSA). The typical catalyst has a three‐dimension network structure. The N, Fe co‐doped nanoporous carbon material has a very high surface area, with a Brunauer−Emmett−Teller surface area of 1776.68 m2 g−1, and a total pore volume of 1.58 cm3 g−1. NFe−C‐HSA exhibits superior ORR activity to state‐of‐the‐art Pt/C (20 %) catalyst and excellent stability in alkaline media as well as high ORR activity in acidic media. In the practical application of Zn−air batteries, NFe−C‐HAS also has superior performance to Pt/C (20 %). Owing to the high surface area and co‐doping of nitrogen and iron elements, the prepared nanoporous carbon material may have other applications in many fields such as supercapacitors, sewage treatment, sensors, gas uptake, and so on.