Fe/N-doped porous carbon materials derived from corn stalks as ORR electrocatalysts for DMFC

Abstract

For the development of cheap and efficient catalysts, the Fe/N co-doped mesoporous carbon material catalyst (Fe5-PANI/C-MCS) was prepared by using corn stalks with polyaniline and melamine. The ORR performance of Fe5-PANI/C-MCS under alkaline conditions (0.1 M KOH) showed excellent stability, tolerance to methanol and catalytic activity with Eonset at 1.09 V and E1/2 at 0.85 V, comparison with commercial Pt/C. The electron transfer and material transport become easy since the rich pore structure of Fe5-PANI/C-MCS. The Fe5-PANI/C-MCS (1.56 mW cm−2) has a higher power density than Pt/C (1.4 mW cm−2) at 50 °C as a DMFC cathode catalyst. This work offered practical application for the development of ORR electrocatalysts using biomass carbon materials based on agroforestry waste.