title: Highly active oxygen reduction non-platinum group metal electrocatalyst without direct metal-nitrogen coordination.
abstract: Replacement of noble metals in catalysts for cathodic oxygen reduction reaction with transition metals mostly create active sites based on a composite of nitrogen-coordinated transition metal in close concert with non-nitrogen-coordinated carbon-embedded metal atom clusters. Here we report a non-platinum group metal electrocatalyst with an active site devoid of any direct nitrogen coordination to iron that outperforms the benchmark platinum-based catalyst in alkaline media and is comparable to its best contemporaries in acidic media. In situ X-ray absorption spectroscopy in conjunction with ex situ microscopy clearly shows nitrided carbon fibres with embedded iron particles that are not directly involved in the oxygen reduction pathway. Instead, the reaction occurs primarily on the carbon-nitrogen structure in the outer skin of the nitrided carbon fibres. Implications include the potential of creating greater active site density and the potential elimination of any Fenton-type process involving exposed iron ions culminating in peroxide initiated free-radical formation.
authors.affiliation: Northeastern University Center for Renewable Energy Technology, Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Northeastern University, 317 Egan Research Center, 360 Huntington Avenue, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, USA.
authors.forename: Kara
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Strickland
authors.affiliation: Northeastern University Center for Renewable Energy Technology, Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Northeastern University, 317 Egan Research Center, 360 Huntington Avenue, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, USA.
authors.forename: Elise
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Miner
authors.affiliation: Northeastern University Center for Renewable Energy Technology, Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Northeastern University, 317 Egan Research Center, 360 Huntington Avenue, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, USA.
authors.forename: Qingying
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Jia
authors.affiliation: Northeastern University Center for Renewable Energy Technology, Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Northeastern University, 317 Egan Research Center, 360 Huntington Avenue, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, USA.
authors.forename: Urszula
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Tylus
authors.affiliation: Northeastern University Center for Renewable Energy Technology, Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Northeastern University, 317 Egan Research Center, 360 Huntington Avenue, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, USA.
authors.forename: Nagappan
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Ramaswamy
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, Northeastern University, 134 Mugar Life Sciences, 360 Huntington Avenue, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, USA.
authors.forename: Wentao
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Liang
authors.affiliation: Institut Charles Gerhardt de Montpellier-UMR 5253, 2 Place Eugéne Batallion, Montpellier Cedex 5 34095, France.
authors.forename: Moulay-Tahar
authors.initials: MT
authors.lastname: Sougrati
authors.affiliation: Institut Charles Gerhardt de Montpellier-UMR 5253, 2 Place Eugéne Batallion, Montpellier Cedex 5 34095, France.
authors.forename: Frédéric
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Jaouen
authors.affiliation: Northeastern University Center for Renewable Energy Technology, Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Northeastern University, 317 Egan Research Center, 360 Huntington Avenue, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, USA.
authors.forename: Sanjeev
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Mukerjee
mesh_terms: D002384:Catalysis; D055664:Electrochemical Techniques; D008670:Metals / Q000737:chemistry*; D009584:Nitrogen / Q000737:chemistry*; D010084:Oxidation-Reduction; D010100:Oxygen / Q000737:chemistry*; D014961:X-Ray Diffraction
chemical_list: D008670:Metals; D009584:Nitrogen; D010100:Oxygen