title: Iron Carbide Nanoparticles Encapsulated in Mesoporous Fe-N-Doped Carbon Nanofibers for Efficient Electrocatalysis.
abstract: Exploring low-cost and high-performance nonprecious metal catalysts (NPMCs) for oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) in fuel cells and metal-air batteries is crucial for the commercialization of these energy conversion and storage devices. Here we report a novel NPMC consisting of Fe3 C nanoparticles encapsulated in mesoporous Fe-N-doped carbon nanofibers, which is synthesized by a cost-effective method using carbonaceous nanofibers, pyrrole, and FeCl3 as precursors. The electrocatalyst exhibits outstanding ORR activity (onset potential of -0.02 V and half-wave potential of -0.140 V) closely comparable to the state-of-the-art Pt/C catalyst in alkaline media, and good ORR activity in acidic media, which is among the highest reported activities of NPMCs.
authors.affiliation: Division of Nanomaterials & Chemistry, Hefei National Laboratory for Physical Sciences at Microscale, Collaborative Innovation Center of Suzhou Nano Science and Technology, Department of Chemistry, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui 230026 (P. R. China) http://staff.ustc.edu.cn/∼yulab/
authors.forename: Zhen-Yu
authors.initials: ZY
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: Division of Nanomaterials & Chemistry, Hefei National Laboratory for Physical Sciences at Microscale, Collaborative Innovation Center of Suzhou Nano Science and Technology, Department of Chemistry, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui 230026 (P. R. China) http://staff.ustc.edu.cn/∼yulab/
authors.forename: Xing-Xing
authors.initials: XX
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: Division of Nanomaterials & Chemistry, Hefei National Laboratory for Physical Sciences at Microscale, Collaborative Innovation Center of Suzhou Nano Science and Technology, Department of Chemistry, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui 230026 (P. R. China) http://staff.ustc.edu.cn/∼yulab/
authors.forename: Bi-Cheng
authors.initials: BC
authors.lastname: Hu
authors.affiliation: Division of Nanomaterials & Chemistry, Hefei National Laboratory for Physical Sciences at Microscale, Collaborative Innovation Center of Suzhou Nano Science and Technology, Department of Chemistry, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui 230026 (P. R. China) http://staff.ustc.edu.cn/∼yulab/
authors.forename: Hai-Wei
authors.initials: HW
authors.lastname: Liang
authors.affiliation: Division of Nanomaterials & Chemistry, Hefei National Laboratory for Physical Sciences at Microscale, Collaborative Innovation Center of Suzhou Nano Science and Technology, Department of Chemistry, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui 230026 (P. R. China) http://staff.ustc.edu.cn/∼yulab/
authors.forename: Yue
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.affiliation: Division of Nanomaterials & Chemistry, Hefei National Laboratory for Physical Sciences at Microscale, Collaborative Innovation Center of Suzhou Nano Science and Technology, Department of Chemistry, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui 230026 (P. R. China) http://staff.ustc.edu.cn/∼yulab/
authors.forename: Li-Feng
authors.initials: LF
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Division of Nanomaterials & Chemistry, Hefei National Laboratory for Physical Sciences at Microscale, Collaborative Innovation Center of Suzhou Nano Science and Technology, Department of Chemistry, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui 230026 (P. R. China) http://staff.ustc.edu.cn/∼yulab/. shyu@ustc.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Shu-Hong
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Yu
keywords: Fe-N-doped carbon nanofibers; electrocatalysis; iron carbide; mesoporous materials; oxygen reduction reaction