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One-Pot Synthesis of Fe-N-Containing Carbon Aerogel for Oxygen Reduction Reaction

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Abstract

Three-dimensional Fe-N-C aerogel catalysts for the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) are prepared with resorcinol–formaldehyde–melamine and iron precursor using one-pot sol-gel process followed by supercritical drying and heat treatment in nitrogen (N2) and then ammonia (NH3) atmospheres. We studied the effect of the synthesis conditions (Fe precursor and Fe content) of organic aerogel and the heat treatment parameters (including temperature and duration) under N2/NH3 atmosphere on the structural properties and ORR catalytic activities of the resulting Fe-N-C aerogel catalysts. The Fe-N-C aerogel catalysts were characterized by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and N2-adsorption/desorption, and the ORR activities were studied by the rotating disk electrode method. It was found that the pore structure, the chemical composition, and ultimately the ORR performance were largely affected by the nature of iron precursor, iron content, and the conditions of heat treatment. The catalysts using Iron (III) acetylacetonate as Fe precursor incorporated with 3 wt% of Fe followed by the HT at 800 °C for 1 h under N2 and then 950 °C under NH3 for 30 min showed the highest content of active site (Fe-Nx) and largest mesopore volume, resulting in an enhanced catalytic activity and mass-transport property.

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Acknowledgements

The authors wish to thank Pierre Ilbizian for help with supercritical drying, Suzanne Jacomet for SEM analysis, Gabriel Monge for XRD, Frédéric Georgi for XPS (CEMEF- MINES ParisTech), and Sergio Rojas for TEM analysis (CSIC Madrid).

Funding

The authors received financial support from the European Union’s H2020-JTI-FCH-2017 Program (number 779550, project PEGASUS).

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  1. MINES ParisTech, PSL University, Centre Procédés, Énergies Renouvelables et Systèmes Énergétiques (PERSEE), CS 10207 rue Claude Daunesse 06904, Sophia Antipolis, Cedex, France

    Youling Wang & Sandrine Berthon-Fabry

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Correspondence to Sandrine Berthon-Fabry.

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Wang, Y., Berthon-Fabry, S. One-Pot Synthesis of Fe-N-Containing Carbon Aerogel for Oxygen Reduction Reaction. Electrocatalysis 12, 78–90 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12678-020-00633-8

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