nitrogen-coordinated fe/mn electrocatalyst derived from mof for efficient orr in pemfc

In order to meet the clean and sustainable energy requirements in the world’s future, fuel cells have been considered as one of the most promising power suppliers and the development of cost-effective oxygen reduction reaction (orr) electrocatalysts as a replacement for platinum at the cathode side has significant importance to boost their applications. the development of platinum group metal (pgm)-free catalysts that are also active, durable, and economic electrocatalysts for orr based on earth-abundant nonprecious metals is essential for sustainable large-scale applications of proton exchange membrane fuel cells (pemfcs). herein, we propose a high-performance catalyst that consists of nitrogen-coordinated fe, mn dual-metal sites on hierarchical graphitic porous carbon derived from metal-organic frameworks (mofs) which the obtained experimental electrochemical results exhibit a superior orr performance, with onset potential (e onset, 0.76 vrhe) and half-wave potential (e ½, 0.66 vrhe) along with enhanced stability in acidic media. the structure and morphology of the fe/mn-n-c catalyst were investigated via scanning electron microscopy (sem). the promising results of the fe/mn-n-c electrocatalyst as a nonprecious metal electrocatalyst (npmc) for oxygen reduction reaction at the cathode were also demonstrated in proton exchange membrane fuel cell tests. the improved orr performance is attributed to the molecular incorporation and synergistic effects between fe/mn-based nanoparticles and n-doping in the networks and the presence of well-dispersed metal-nitrogen active sites embedded in 3d porous mof-derived carbon structure.