MOF‐Templated Assembly Approach for Fe3C Nanoparticles Encapsulated in Bamboo‐Like N‐Doped CNTs: Highly Efficient Oxygen Reduction under Acidic and Basic Conditions

Abstract Developing high‐performance non‐precious metal catalysts (NPMCs) for the oxygen‐reduction reaction (ORR) is of critical importance for sustainable energy conversion. We report a novel NPMC consisting of iron carbide (Fe3C) nanoparticles encapsulated in N‐doped bamboo‐like carbon nanotubes (b‐NCNTs), synthesized by a new metal‐organic framework (MOF)‐templated assembly approach. The electrocatalyst exhibits excellent ORR activity in 0.1 m KOH (0.89 V at −1 mA cm−2) and in 0.5 m H2SO4 (0.73 V at −1 mA cm−2) with a hydrogen peroxide yield of below 1 % in both electrolytes. Due to encapsulation of the Fe3C nanoparticles inside porous b‐NCNTs, the reported NPMC retains its high ORR activity after around 70 hours in both alkaline and acidic media.