title: Porous Core-Shell Fe3C Embedded N-doped Carbon Nanofibers as an Effective Electrocatalysts for Oxygen Reduction Reaction.
abstract: The development of nonprecious-metal-based electrocatalysts with high oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) activity, low cost, and good durability in both alkaline and acidic media is very important for application of full cells. Herein, we developed a facile and economical strategy to obtain porous core-shell Fe3C embedded nitrogen-doped carbon nanofibers (Fe3C@NCNF-X, where X denotes pyrolysis temperature) by electrospinning of polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) and FeCl3 mixture, chemical vapor phase polymerization of pyrrole, and followed by pyrolysis of composite nanofibers at high temperatures. Note that the FeCl3 and polypyrrole acts as precursor for Fe3C core and N-doped carbon shell, respectively. Moreover, PVDF not only plays a role as carbon resources, but also provides porous structures due to hydrogen fluoride exposure originated from thermal decomposition of PVDF. The resultant Fe3C@NCNF-X catalysts, particularly Fe3C@NCNF-900, showed efficient electrocatalytic performance for ORR in both alkaline and acidic solutions, which are attributed to the synergistic effect between Fe3C and N-doped carbon as catalytic active sites, and carbon shell protects Fe3C from leaching out. In addition, the Fe3C@NCNF-X catalyst displayed a better long-term stability, free from methanol crossover and CO-poisoning effects than those of Pt/C, which is of great significance for the design and development of advanced electrocatalysts based on nonprecious metals.
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Bio-inspired Smart Interfacial Science and Technology of Ministry of Education, School of Chemistry and Environment, Beihang University , Beijing 100191, People's Republic of China.|School of Chemistry, Biology and Material Science, East China University of Technology , Nanchang, Jiangxi 330013, China.
authors.forename: Guangyuan
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Ren
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Bio-inspired Smart Interfacial Science and Technology of Ministry of Education, School of Chemistry and Environment, Beihang University , Beijing 100191, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Xianyong
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Bio-inspired Smart Interfacial Science and Technology of Ministry of Education, School of Chemistry and Environment, Beihang University , Beijing 100191, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Yunan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Bio-inspired Smart Interfacial Science and Technology of Ministry of Education, School of Chemistry and Environment, Beihang University , Beijing 100191, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Ying
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.affiliation: Department of Macromolecular Science and Engineering, Case Western Reserve University , Cleveland, Ohio 44106, United States.
authors.forename: Liming
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Dai
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Bio-inspired Smart Interfacial Science and Technology of Ministry of Education, School of Chemistry and Environment, Beihang University , Beijing 100191, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Lei
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Jiang
keywords: Fe3C; core−shell structure; electrospinning; oxygen reduction reaction; vapor phase polymerization