title: Is Ammonium Peroxydisulate Indispensable for Preparation of Aniline-Derived Iron-Nitrogen-Carbon Electrocatalysts?
abstract: Iron and nitrogen co-doped carbon (Fe-N-C) materials are among the most active non-precious metal catalysts that could replace Pt-based electrocatalysts for the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) in fuel cells and metal-air batteries. The synthesis of the Fe-N-C catalysts often involves the use of aniline as the precursor for both N and C and ammonium peroxydisulfate (APS) as an indispensable oxidative initiator for aniline polymerization. Herein, a detailed structure and catalytic ORR performance comparison of aniline-derived Fe-N-C catalysts synthesized with and without the use of APS is reported. The APS-free preparation, which uses Fe(III) ions as the Fe source as well as the aniline polymerization initiator, results in a simple Fe-N-C catalyst with a high activity for the ORR. We show that APS is not necessary for the preparation and even detrimental to the performance of the catalyst.
authors: Innovative Catalysis Program, Key Lab of Organic Optoelectronics & Molecular Engineering, Department of Chemistry, Tsinghua University, Beijing, 100084, P.R. China.
authors: Nan-Hong
authors: NH
authors: Xie
authors: Innovative Catalysis Program, Key Lab of Organic Optoelectronics & Molecular Engineering, Department of Chemistry, Tsinghua University, Beijing, 100084, P.R. China.
authors: Xiang-Hui
authors: XH
authors: Yan
authors: Innovative Catalysis Program, Key Lab of Organic Optoelectronics & Molecular Engineering, Department of Chemistry, Tsinghua University, Beijing, 100084, P.R. China. bqxu@mail.tsinghua.edu.cn.
authors: Bo-Qing
authors: BQ
authors: Xu
mesh_terms: D000645:Ammonium Sulfate / Q000737:chemistry*; D000814:Aniline Compounds / Q000737:chemistry*; D002244:Carbon / Q000737:chemistry*; D002384:Catalysis; D004563:Electrochemistry; D007501:Iron / Q000737:chemistry*; D007700:Kinetics; D009584:Nitrogen / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D000814:Aniline Compounds; C031276:ammonium peroxydisulfate; D002244:Carbon; D007501:Iron; D009584:Nitrogen; C023650:aniline; D000645:Ammonium Sulfate
keywords: aniline; carbon; electrocatalysis; non-precious metals; oxygen reduction reaction