Templated Nitrogen-, Iron-, and Cobalt-Doped Mesoporous Nanocarbon Derived from an Alkylresorcinol Mixture for Anion-Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell Application
Kaarel Kisand, Ave Sarapuu, John C. Douglin, Arvo Kikas, Alexey Treshchalov, Maike Käärik, Helle‐Mai Piirsoo, Päärn Paiste, Jaan Aruväli, Jaan Leis, Vambola Kisand, Aile Tamm, Dario R. Dekel, Kaido Tammeveski
Abstract
In this work, doped nanocarbon electrocatalysts for electrochemical oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) are prepared by high-temperature pyrolysis from Honeyol, cobalt and iron salts, and dicyandiamide. MgO-based inorganic templates are further used to increase the mesoporosity of the prepared catalyst materials. The templated bimetallic electrocatalyst containing iron and cobalt (FeCoNC-MgOAc) showed excellent stability and remarkable ORR performance in rotating disk electrode testing in alkaline conditions. The catalyst was further tested in anion-exchange membrane fuel cells (AEMFCs), where FeCoNC-MgOAc performed significantly better than the nontemplated material (FeCoNC), yielding a peak power density (Pmax) of 0.92 W cm–2 surpassing that of the commercial Pt/C (20 and 40 wt %) catalysts (Pmax = 0.85 and 0.69 W cm–2, respectively). The high AEMFC performance was attributed to the mesoporous morphology and high density of active sites in the nanocarbon-based cathode catalyst.