Exploration of high-efficiency, economical and ultrastable electrocatalysts for the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) to substitute precious Pt is of great significance in electrochemical energy conversion devices. Single atom catalysts (SACs) have sparked tremendous interests for their maximum atom-utilization efficiency and fascinating properties. Therefore, the development of effective synthetic methodologies toward SACs becomes highly imperative, yet still remains challenging. This presentation will show a reliable SiO<sub>2</sub>-templated strategy to synthesize atomically dispersed Fe atoms anchoring on N-doped carbon nanospheres (denoted as Fe-N-C HNSs) using a cheap and sustainable biomaterial of histidine (His) as the N and C precursor. By virtue of numerous atomically dispersed Fe-N<sub>4</sub> moieties and a unique spherical hollow architecture, the as-fabricated Fe-N-C HNSs exhibited excellent ORR performance in alkaline medium with outstanding activity, high long-term stability and superior tolerance to methanol crossover, exceeding a commercial Pt/C catalyst and many previously reported non-precious metal catalysts. This synthetic strategy will provide inspiration to the fabrication of new high-efficiency single atom catalysts for diverse applications.

High-efficiency electrocatalyst for the oxygen reduction reaction: Atomic Fe-dispersed on N-doped carbon hollow nanospheres

2019 Fall National Meeting

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