Bagasse derived C@Fe3C/Fe3O4 composite: An Approach towards low cost electrocatalyst for oxygen reduction reaction

Abstract

As the world is heading towards sustainable future, it is highly important to develop low-cost electrocatalysts for energy generation devices. Herein, we report synthesis of iron-carbon hybrid (C@Fe3C/Fe3O4) nanocomposite for oxygen reduction reaction (ORR), synthesized using bagasse as a carbon source material and Fe(III) precursor at 900 ˚C. The synthesized C@Fe3C/Fe3O4 composite exhibits a high surface area of ~930 m 2 /g. The electrode material has a 0.86 V overpotential vs RHE. Moreover, the electrocatalyst shows catalytic stability upto 44,000 s at the static potential of 0.25 V vs RHE at the rotation speed of 1600 rpm. Herein, the electron transfer number is calculated to be 3.76-3.94 which suggest that the electrocatalyst could catalyze ORR nearly through a 4 electron transfer process in alkaline solution.