B‐Doped Fe/N/C Porous Catalyst for High‐Performance Oxygen Reduction in Anion‐Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells

Abstract The development of high‐performance non‐precious metal catalysts for the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) as an alternative to platinum‐based counterparts in fuel cells is highly desirable but challenging. In this study, a facile approach for preparing a porous boron‐bearing Fe/N/C catalyst by pyrolysis was reported. The obtained FeCNB‐900 with a high surface area (784 m 2 g −1 ) favored a 4e − ‐reduction pathway for ORR, with a half‐wave potential of ∼0.86 V vs. RHE and high stability in 0.1 M KOH. Furthermore, anion‐exchange membrane fuel cells (AEMFCs) with the use of the FeCNB‐900 composite as the cathode catalyst exhibited a maximal power density of 0.172 W cm −2 without back pressure, revealing its promising potential for application in fuel cells and metal‐air batteries. Results demonstrated that the additional doping of B into Fe/N/C leads to a significant increase in the specific surface area of the catalyst composite and can adjust surface polarities as well as electronic properties and provide more active sites to impart a synergistic effect for boosting catalytic ORR performance.