FeWO4/nitrogen-doped multi-dimensional porous carbon for the highly efficient and stable oxygen reduction reaction

Abstract

Non-precious metal oxygen reduction catalysts still present considerable challenges in ensuring activity and stability in acidic/alkaline media. In this paper, the tungstate with excellent stability is selected as the electrocatalyst for oxygen reduction reaction (ORR). FeWO4/nitrogen-doped multi-dimensional porous carbon (FeWO4/N-MPC) catalyst was successfully synthesized by freeze-drying and rapid calcination methods. FeWO4/N-MPC exhibited a multi-dimensional porous carbon structure with uniformly distributing FeWO4 nanoparticles. The nitrogen-doped multi-dimensional porous carbon structure composed of nanofibers and nanosheets can significantly improve the transport efficiency of charge and O2 and effectively protect the FeWO4 nanoparticles, further leading to enhance catalytic activity and stability of FeWO4/N-MPC. Thus, FeWO4/N-MPC exhibited excellent catalytic performance for ORR in acidic/alkaline media. The long-term durability of FeWO4/N-MPC was also remarkably more outstanding than that of 20 wt% Pt/C catalyst in acidic/alkaline media. The long-term durability of FeWO4/N-MPC had also made it possible to apply in metal-air batteries and fuel cells.