Sluggish oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) is a rate-limiting step in some electrochemical devices such as fuel cells. Thus, the synthesis and development of high performance, inexpensive and durable catalysts for ORR is a necessity. Metallic nanostructures decorated heteroatoms-doped carbons have been recognized as excellent catalysts in energy applications. However, nitrogen-doped partially oxidized three-dimensional carbonaceous supports were seldom studied for ORR. Herein, the synthesis of low Fe-Co bimetallic contents deposited on three-dimensional (3D) activated carbon (AC) is reported as an efficient and cost-effective catalyst for ORR in alkaline electrolyte. In the present work, AC was thermally treated by direct heat in air at 430 °C to enhance its electrochemical activity through increasing structure deficiency. AC and nitrogen doped AC (N-AC) were used to synthesize Fe-Co/AC and Fe-Co/N-AC. In both Fe-Co/AC and Fe-Co/N-AC, low amounts of non-precious Fe and Co nanoparticles were deposited on carbonaceous substrates. The air oxidation process, for partially oxidation of carbon structure and catalyst post treatment, was used for introducing defects to the catalyst structure. The performance of synthesized samples was evaluated by ORR process in alkaline medium.

缓慢的氧气还原反应（ORR）是某些电化学装置（例如燃料电池）中的限速步骤。因此，必须合成和开发用于ORR的高性能，廉价和耐用的催化剂。金属纳米结构装饰的杂原子掺杂碳已被公认为是能源应用中的优秀催化剂。但是，很少研究氮掺杂的部分氧化的三维碳质载体的ORR。在本文中，据报道，沉积在三维（3D）活性炭（AC）上的低Fe-Co双金属含量的合成是碱性电解液中ORR的一种高效且具有成本效益的催化剂。在目前的工作中，AC通过在430°C的空气中直接加热进行热处理，以通过增加结构缺陷来增强其电化学活性。AC和氮掺杂AC（N-AC）用于合成Fe-Co / AC和Fe-Co / N-AC。在Fe-Co / AC和Fe-Co / N-AC中，少量的非贵重Fe和Co纳米颗粒沉积在碳质基底上。空气氧化过程用于碳结构的部分氧化和催化剂的后处理，用于将缺陷引入催化剂结构。合成样品的性能通过碱性介质中的ORR过程进行评估。