Nitrogen and Fluorine-Codoped Porous Carbons as Efficient Metal-Free Electrocatalysts for Oxygen Reduction Reaction in Fuel Cells

Abstract

The severe dependence of oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) in fuel cells on platinum (Pt)-based catalysts greatly limits the process of their commercialization. Therefore, developing cost-reasonable non-precious-metal catalysts to replace Pt-based catalysts for ORR is an urgent task. Here, we use the composite of inexpensive polyaniline and superfine polytetrafluoroethylene powder as precursor to synthesize a metal-free N,F-codoped porous carbon catalyst (N,F-Carbon). Results indicate that the N,F-Carbon catalyst obtained at the optimized temperature 1000 °C exhibits almost the same onset (0.97 V vs RHE) and half-wave potential (0.84 V vs RHE) and better durability and higher crossover resistance in alkaline medium compared to commercial 20% Pt/C, which is attributed to the good dispersion of fluorine and nitrogen atoms in the carbon matrix, high specific surface area, and the synergistic effects of fluorine and nitrogen on the polarization of adjacent carbon atoms. This work provides a new strategy for in situ synthesis of N,F-codoped porous carbon as highly efficient metal-free electrocatalyst for ORR in fuel cells.