Active and stable carbon nanotube/nanoparticle composite electrocatalyst for oxygen reduction

Nanostructured carbon-based materials, such as nitrogen-doped carbon nanotube arrays, Co3O4/nitrogen-doped graphene hybrids and carbon nanotube–graphene complexes have shown respectable oxygen reduction reaction activity in alkaline media. Although certainly promising, the performance of these materials does not yet warrant implementation in the energy conversion/storage devices utilizing basic electrolytes, for example, alkaline fuel cells, metal-air batteries and certain electrolysers. Here we demonstrate a new type of nitrogen-doped carbon nanotube/nanoparticle composite oxygen reduction reaction electrocatalyst obtained from iron acetate as an iron precursor and from cyanamide as a nitrogen and carbon nanotube precursor in a simple, scalable and single-step method. The composite has the highest oxygen reduction reaction activity in alkaline media of any non-precious metal catalysts. When used at a sufficiently high loading, this catalyst also outperforms the most active platinum-based catalysts. Cheap, efficient oxygen reduction reaction catalysts are vital for the development of fuel cells and lithium-air batteries. Here, the authors report the scalable synthesis of a nitrogen-doped carbon nanotube/nanoparticle hybrid material that outperforms several platinum-based catalysts.