Electrospinning of Magnetite–Polyacrylonitrile Composites for the Production of Oxygen Reduction Reaction Catalysts

• Published in: Polymers Vol. 15; no. 20; p. 4064
• Main Authors: Mamun, Al, García-Mateos, Francisco José, Sabantina, Lilia, Klöcker, Michaela, Diestelhorst, Elise, Ruiz-Rosas, Ramiro, Rosas, Juana María, Rodríguez-Mirasol, José, Blachowicz, Tomasz, Cordero, Tomás
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Basel MDPI AG 01.10.2023; MDPI
• Subjects: Air pollution; Alternative energy sources; Batteries; Carbon black; Carbon fibers; Catalysts; Chemical reduction; Electrodes; Electrolytes; Electrospinning; Fourier transforms; Fuel cell industry; Fuel cells; Iron oxides; iron–nitrogen catalyst; Magnetite; Metal oxides; Morphology; Nanoparticles; Nitrogen; ORR; Oxygen reduction reactions; PAN; Polyacrylonitrile; Polymers; Power supply; Spectrum analysis; Germany; United States > US
• ISSN: 2073-4360; 2073-4360
• DOI: 10.3390/polym15204064

In this study, electrospun carbon fiber electrodes were prepared by the carbonization of PAN–Fe3O4 electrospun fibers at 800 °C for their use as catalysts in the oxygen reduction reaction in an alkaline electrolyte. Magnetic nanofiber mats were fabricated using a needle-free electrospinning method by incorporating magnetic nanoparticles into a polymer solution. Electrochemical tests revealed that the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) activity is optimized at an intermediate magnetite loading of 30% wt. These catalysts not only show better performance compared to their counterparts but also achieve high selectivity to water at low potentials. The onset and half-wave potentials of 0.92 and 0.76 V shown by these samples are only slightly behind those of the commercial Pt 20%-carbon black ORR catalyst. The obtained results point out that the electrospinning of PAN-Fe3O4 solutions allows the preparation of advanced N-Fe ORR catalysts in fibrillar morphology.