Carbon gel-derived Fe–N–C electrocatalysts for hydrogen-air polymer electrolyte fuel cells
Wojciech Kiciński, Sławomir Dyjak, Wojciech Tokarz
Abstract
Phloroglucinol/2-pyrrolaldehyde porous organic polymer impregnated with FeCl3 was utilized to produce pyrolyzed iron-nitrogen-carbon (Fe−N−C) electrocatalysts for oxygen reduction reaction. The influence of the iron precursor content, addition of phenanthroline and pyrolysis temperature on the final Fe−N−C catalyst properties and activity were studied. The performance of the electrocatalysts obtained was additionally studied in a H2‒air single-cell polymer electrolyte fuel cell (PEFC) with a ⁓4 mg(Fe−N−C) cm−2 cathode (5 cm2 membrane electrode assembly) and a Pt-based anode. The carbon gel-derived platinum group metal-free catalysts perform well in the PEFC achieving 0.2 W cm−2 and 0.37 A cm−2 at 0.5 V. The durability of the obtained Fe−N−C catalysts was also examined.