The
construction of active and durable electrocatalysts based on
a high abundance of elements toward oxygen reduction reaction (ORR)
is critical for proton-exchange membrane fuel cells and metal–air
batteries. Here, a composite nanostructure composed of Fe/Fe3C-NC nanosheets and carbon nanotubes (G-Fe/Fe3C-NC/CNTs)
was designed by simply annealing a glucose-chelated Fe-coordinated
metal–organic frameworks. The introduction of glucose can not
only effectively prevent the collapse of the initial two-dimensional
(2D) leaflike zeolitic imidazolate frameworks (ZIFs) during the carbonization
process but also boost the growth of carbon nanotubes (CNTs). Benefiting
from efficient Fe/Fe3C and Fe–N
x
moieties, high specific surface area, and electron-conducting
highways provided by the unique composite structure, the obtained
G-Fe/Fe3C-NC/CNTs electrocatalysts achieved an impressive
ORR activity with a higher positive onset potential of 1.02 V and
half-wave potential of 0.87 V over the commercial Pt/C. Significantly,
it also exhibits outstanding stability after 6000 cyclic voltammogram
(CV) cycles with nearly negligible decay in half-wave potential, which
makes it one of the promising Pt-free catalysts for ORR.
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