Carbon-coated Fe3C derived from MIL-100 growth on covalent triazine framework in situ as an efficient ORR catalysts

Abstract

Fe-based N-doped carbon materials have become the most potential electrocatalysts to replace noble metal catalysts in oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) due to their wide availability, affordability, and high catalytic activity. In this study, novel Fe-based Fe3C nanoparticles encapsulated by N-doped mesopores carbon were prepared via a cost-effective method using MIL-100(Fe) growth on CTF as the precursor. Benefit from the compositional and structural synergistic effect of metal and substrate, the highly dispersed core–shell Fe/Fe3C@C catalyst shows excellent ORR activity and stability with an onset potential of 1.016 V and a half-wave potential of 0.831 V, which is comparable with commercial Pt/C. Meanwhile, the interfacial electron transfer between Fe3C nanoparticles and neighboring Fe-N species, as well as the porous carbon architecture, contribute to the excellent ORR performance. The CTF-derived synthetic enhances ORR activity strategy inspires new perspectives to develop Fe-based composites as high-efficiency ORR electrocatalysts.