Synthesis of MOF-Derived Nonprecious Catalyst with High Electrocatalytic Activity for Oxygen Reduction Reaction

Production of nonprecious catalysts with high electrocatalytic activity is one of the promising paths to drive fuel cells' commercialization. Herein, we present rational tuning to prepare metal–organic framework (MOF)-derived nonprecious catalysts. Nanoporous MOF-derived catalysts were hierarchically prepared by using functional carbon black assembled with Material Institut Lavoisier (MIL)-101(Fe) as a precursor, followed by nitrogen doping and carbonization by pyrolysis. The resulting catalysts contained iron and iron carbide nanoparticles encapsulated in the nitrogen-enriched mesoporous carbons, which were connected to functional carbon black (Fe/Fe3C@NC). The hierarchical structure led to electron conductivity improvement, higher active site exposure, and stronger synergistic effects. The optimal catalyst exhibited superior oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) activity with onset and half-wave potentials of 0.85 and 0.70 V vs RHE, respectively. Furthermore, it showed much higher stability and better methanol tolerance than those of the state-of-the-art Pt/C. This could offer a practical approach to synthesizing nonprecious catalysts with high ORR activity for fuel cell applications.