Abstract:
To replace precious metal oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) electrocatalysts, many transition metals and N-doped carbon composites have been proposed in the last decade resulting in their rapid development as promising non-precious metal catalysts. We used Ketjenblack carbon as the precursor and mixed it with a polymeric ionic liquid (PIL) of HvimNO
3 and Fe(NO
3)
3, which was thermally calcined at 900 °C to produce a porous FeO
x, N co-doped carbon material denoted FeO
x-N/C. Because the PIL of HvimNO
3 strongly combines with and disperses Fe
3+ ions, and NO
3− is thermally pyrolyzed to form the porous structure, the FeO
x-N/C catalyst has a high electrocatalytic activity for the ORR in both 0.1 mol L
−1 KOH and 0.5 mol L
−1 H
2SO
4 electrolytes. It was used as the catalyst to assemble a zinc-air battery, which had a peak power density of 185 mW·cm
−2. Its superior electrocatalytic activity, wide pH range, and easy preparation make FeO
x-N/C a promising electrocatalyst for fuel cells and metal-air batteries.