Heat-treated 2,2′-bipyridine iron complex supported on polypyrrole-coated carbon for oxygen reduction reaction

• Published in: Journal of industrial and engineering chemistry (Seoul, Korea) Vol. 17; no. 2; pp. 304 - 309
• Main Authors: Heo, Kyu Chul, Nahm, Kee Suk, Lee, Soo-Hyoung, Kim, Pil
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier B.V 25.03.2011; 한국공업화학회
• Subjects: Bipyridine; Carbon; Catalysis; Catalysts; Heat treatment; Iron; Non-noble ORR catalyst; Oxygen reduction reaction (ORR); Polymer electrolyte fuel cells (PEMFCs); Pt alternative catalyst; Pyrolysis; Reduction; X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy; 화학공학; Pt alternative catalyst; Non-noble ORR catalyst; Polymer electrolyte fuel cells (PEMFCs); Bipyridine; Oxygen reduction reaction (ORR)
• ISSN: 1226-086X; 1876-794X
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jiec.2011.02.028

Nitrogen-containing non-noble metal catalysts for oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) are prepared by supporting 2,2′-bipyridine iron complex on polypyrrole-coated carbon support followed by pyrolysis at various temperatures (600, 700, 850, and 1000 °C). The prepared catalysts and support are characterized by IR, elementary analysis, TEM, and XPS. Revealed is that the contents of pyridinic nitrogen on a catalyst would not be a determining factor for ORR activity. The concentration of pyridinic nitrogen diminishes with the increasing pyrolysis temperature, while the ORR performance is observed to be enhanced with a maximum at 850 °C. It is believed that the pyridinic nitrogen added as a precursor should be activated to serve as an active site for ORR, indicating that an increasing pyrolysis temperature is favored to form a highly active site. However, the pyrolysis at too high of temperature (1000 °C) turns out to be undesirable due to a considerable loss of active nitrogen.