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In this work, doped nanocarbon electrocatalysts for electrochemical oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) are prepared by high-temperature pyrolysis from Honeyol, cobalt and iron salts, and dicyandiamide. MgO-based inorganic templates are further used to increase the mesoporosity of the prepared catalyst materials. The templated bimetallic electrocatalyst containing iron and cobalt (FeCoNC-MgOAc) showed excellent stability and remarkable ORR performance in rotating disk electrode testing in alkaline conditions. The catalyst was further tested in anion-exchange membrane fuel cells (AEMFCs), where FeCoNC-MgOAc performed significantly better than the nontemplated material (FeCoNC), yielding a peak power density (P max ) of 0.92 W cm −2 surpassing that of the commercial Pt/C (20 and 40 wt %) catalysts (P max = 0.85 and 0.69 W cm −2 , respectively). The high AEMFC performance was attributed to the mesoporous morphology and high density of active sites in the nanocarbon-based cathode catalyst.

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Cobalt-and iron-containing nitrogen-doped carbon nanomaterials are synthesised from 5-methylresorcinol-formaldehyde resin nanospheres by pyrolysis in the presence of nitrogen and metal precursors. Two approaches used for the synthesis yield the catalysts of different morphology, consisting of spherical or irregular porous carbon structures. The electrocatalytic properties of the materials towards the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) in alkaline solution are evaluated by thin-film rotating disk electrode method. The catalysts containing transition metals exhibit enhanced electrocatalytic activity for ORR as compared to the metal-free nitrogen-doped materials, cobaltcontaining catalysts being slightly more active than iron-based materials. The structure and surface composition of the materials are characterised by scanning electron microscopy, N 2 adsorption studies and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy.was calculated by using a quenched solid density functional theory (QSDFT) equilibria model for slit type pores.