Preparation of three-dimensional Fe–N co-doped open-porous carbon networks as an efficient ORR electrocatalyst in both alkaline and acidic media.

It is of significant importance to construct the low-cost, efficient, and stable carbon-based non-noble metal to replace the noble metal electrocatalyst for oxygen reduction reaction in both alkaline and acidic media. In this work, a straightforward and cost-efficient strategy is reported to synthesize the Fe–N co-doped open-porous carbon materials with three-dimensional (3D) carbon networks structure, high surface areas and multiple actives sites including iron carbide nanoparticles, pyridinic N, and graphitic N using a new kind of Fe-Imace coordinated complex as the precursor and melamine as nitrogen sources by direct pyrolysis. The obtained Fe– N –C 900 catalyst shows excellent oxygen reduction performance in both alkaline (E onset , 1.014 vs. RHE) and acidic (E onset , 0.982 V vs. RHE) media, which are better than those of the Pt/C in alkaline (E onset , 0.986 vs. RHE) and acidic media (E onset , 0.979 V vs. RHE). Even more important, the stability and methanol tolerance of the Fe–N–C 900 catalyst are much better than that of the Pt/C catalyst in both alkaline and acidic media. All the results demonstrate that the present facile and universal one-step pyrolytic strategy can be used to synthesize catalyst materials as one of the superior non-precious cathode electrocatalysts for fuel cells. [Display omitted] • 3D hierarchical open-porous carbon networks catalyst (Fe– N –C) is obtained by one-step pyrolytic method. • Fe 3 C nanoparticle plays a crucial role in improving the activity of Fe– N –C. • The synthesized Fe– N –C 900 catalyst exhibits excellent ORR activity and stability in alkaline and acidic media. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]