Electrospun Polyacrylonitrile‐Derived Co or Fe Containing Nanofibre Catalysts for Oxygen Reduction Reaction at the Alkaline Membrane Fuel Cell Cathode

Abstract

Abstract Electrospun polyacrylonitrile (PAN) based carbon nanofibres (CNF) are employed as cathode catalysts in anion‐exchange membrane fuel cell (AEMFC) for the first time. The catalysts are prepared via pyrolysis of Co or Fe salt‐containing PAN fibre with and without the ionic liquid (IL) additive. The catalyst material preparation is optimised by assessing the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) activity of different transition metal and nitrogen‐doped CNFs in 0.1 M KOH by rotating disc electrode method followed by testing in real AEMFC configuration. The best performance in the AEMFC is observed in case of Fe and IL containing PAN fibre that was pyrolysed at 1000 °C and additionally treated in an acid solution (Fe/IL‐PAN‐A1000). In the AEMFC, the Fe/IL‐PAN‐A1000 catalyst showed the maximum power density ( P max ) of 289 mW cm −2 , which is 82 % of the P max obtained with commercial Pt/C cathode catalyst (352 mW cm −2 ).