Pt Nanoparticles Decorated on Fe2O3/N, P-Doped Mesoporous Carbon for Enhanced Oxygen Reduction Activity and Durability

Abstract The Pt–Fe2O3 nanoparticles embedded over N, P-doped carbon (Pt–Fe2O3/NPC) was successfully synthesized by chemical reduction method demonstrating an enhanced electrocatalytic efficacy in alkaline media toward oxygen reduction reaction (ORR). The surface morphology of Pt–Fe2O3/NPC has been characterized by electron microscopy scanning, X-ray diffraction, electron microscopy transmission, Raman spectra, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The ORR electrocatalytic activity of Pt–Fe2O3/NPC was found to be the superior mass activity of 0.120 mA µg−1, which are almost twice higher than those for Pt–Fe2O3/VC (0.068 mA µg−1) and Pt/C (0.061 mA µg−1) catalysts. The durability tests revealed that the Pt–Fe2O3/NPC exhibited enhanced stability observed from the order of electrochemical active surface area (ECA) loss determined as Pt–Fe2O3/NPC (45.67%) <Pt–Fe2O3/VC (62.5%) <(Pt/C (72.13%) after 5000 cycles. This present investigation unveiled a facile approach to develop the number of active sites with the combination between P–Fe2O3 and N, P-doped carbon for improved electrocatalytic performance toward ORR.