Porous Fe/N-doped Carbon Layers Wrapped CNTs Electrocatalysts for Superior Oxygen Reduction Reaction

Developing high performance, low-cost oxygen reduction electrocatalysts is the key to reduce the cost of fuel cells. The transition metal-nitrogen-carbon materials have been highlighted as promising candidates owing to their high catalytic activity, low cost and environmental friendliness. Herein, we report a facile polydopamine modification approach to prepare porous CNTs@Fe/N/C elecrtocatalysts via pyrolysis of the CNTs@PDA and FeCl₃ composites. The morphology and composition of these as-prepared catalysts were characterized by TEM, BET, Raman and XPS. The electrochemical results show that the half-wave potential of the CNTs@40% Fe/N/C catalyst is as high as 0.881 V, which is close to that of commercial Pt/C catalyst. Moreover, the CNTs@40% Fe/N/C also showed superior durability and resistance to the methanol crossover.