Fe,Cu-codoped metal-nitrogen-carbon catalysts with high selectivity and stability for the oxygen reduction reaction

Metal-nitrogen-carbon materials(M-N-C) are non-noble-metal-based alternatives to platinum-based catalysts and have attracted tremendous attention due to their low-cost,high abundance,and efficient catalytic performance towards the oxygen reduction reaction(ORR).Among them,Fe-based materials show remarkable ORR activity,but they are limited by low selectivity and low stability.To address these issues,herein,we have synthesized FeCu-based M-N-C catalysts,inspired by the bimetal center of cytochrome c oxidase(CcO).In acidic media,the selectivity was notably improved compared with Febased materials,with peroxide yields less than 1.2%(<1/3 of the hydrogen peroxide yields of Fe-N-C catalysts).In addition to Cu-N-C catalysts which can catalytically reduce hydrogen peroxide,the reduction current of hydrogen peroxide using FeCu-N-C-20 exceeded that of Fe-N-C by about 6% when the potential was greater than 0.4 V.Furthermore,FeCu-based M-N-C catalysts suffered from only a15 mV attenuation in their half-wave potentials after 10,000 cycles of accelerated degradation tests(ADT),while there was a 30 mV negative shift for Fe-N-C.Therefore,we propose that the H_(2)O_(2) released from Fe-Nx sites or N-doped carbon sites would be reduced by adjacent Cu-Nx sites,re sulting in low H_(2)O_(2) yields and high stability.