Constructing B and N separately co-doped carbon nanocapsules-wrapped Fe/Fe3C for oxygen reduction reaction with high current density

Abstract

The exploration of low-cost and highly efficient non-platinum electrocatalysts for the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) is vital for renewable systems. Herein, we report a novel non-platinum electrocatalyst consisting of B and N separately co-doped graphitic carbon encapsulated Fe/Fe₃C nanoparticles (BNGFe), which were synthesized from a facile method by adopting melamine, iron nitrate and boric acid as the precursors. In this synthesis, the N atoms in melamine first bond with the iron ions in iron nitrate, which could prevent the formation of BN covalent bonds during the subsequent pyrolysed process, resulting in the formation of effective B and N separately co-doped graphitic carbon encapsulated on the Fe/Fe₃C nanoparticles. The synthetic BNGFe catalyst shows outstanding catalytic performance for ORR with an onset potential of 0.98 V (vs. RHE) and a high limiting diffusion current density, which could be comparable to the state-of-the-art commercial Pt/C catalyst in alkaline electrolyte.