The oxygen reduction reaction occurring at the cathode of proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) and metal-air batteries is a bottleneck reaction for the commercialization of these energy techniques. There are currently extensive efforts devoted to the development of non-precious metal catalysts (NPMCs). Among the various catalysts, transition metal−nitrogen (Me−N−C) containing carbon materials, especially Fe−N−C, have been demonstrated as a family of promising NMPCs for oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) due to their high ORR activity in both alkaline and acidic electrolytes. In order to maximize the number of active sites, different template methods have been developed to prepare porous metal-containing nitrogen-doped carbon materials. Metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) as new classes of crystalline porous materials with high surface areas, tunable pore sizes and multiple functionalities have been used as templates and precursors for the preparation of nanostructured materials of high quality porous carbons in ORR field. In order to ensure homogeneous and uniform Fe doping, here MOFs with pyridine-based ligands are selected and served as templating and precursors for the synthesis of efficient ORR catalysts. It is expected that the chelate bonding sites in the MOFs can serve as iron cation leading to the uniformly distributed iron-nitrogen active sites on the synthesized carbon materials. So far little reports are on the preparation of nitrogen doped porous carbon from MOFs with pyridine-based ligands. Actually, pyridine-based ligands with N atoms embedding in the aromatic ring can help facilitate the incorporation of nitrogen containing active sites into the graphitized carbon matrix in the presence of iron. In this work, efficient carbon based Fe-N doped ORR catalysts are obtained from MOFs materials with pyridine-based ligands through a post-synthesis modification strategy.

Metal-organic framework-derived, porous carbons as highly efficient electrocatalysts for oxygen reduction reactions

251st National Meeting (2016)

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