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Updated: Jan 24, 2026

Synthesis of Metal Nanoparticles Supported on Carbon Nanotube with Doped Co and N Atoms and its Catalytic Applications in Hydrogen Production
Published on: December 6, 2021
Pyrolytic Carbon-coated Cu-Fe Alloy Nanoparticles with High Catalytic Performance for Oxygen Electroreduction
Yu Qiao1, Yangyang Ni1, Fantan Kong1
1School of Chemistry and Molecular Engineering, East China Normal University, 500 Dongchuan Road, Shanghai, 200241, P. R. China.
Abstract:
Well-dispersed carbon-coated or nitrogen-doped carbon-coated copper-iron alloy nanoparticles (FeCu@C or FeCu@C-N) in carbon-based supports are obtained using a bimetallic metal-organic framework (Cu/Fe-MOF-74) or a mixture of Cu/Fe-MOF-74 and melamine as sacrificial templates and an active-component precursor by using a pyrolysis method. The investigation results attest formation of Cu-Fe alloy nanoparticles. The obtained FeCu@C catalyst exhibits a catalytic activity with a half-wave potential of 0.83 V for oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) in alkaline medium, comparable to that on commercial Pt/C catalyst (0.84 V). The catalytic activity of FeCu@C-N for ORR (Ehalf-wave =0.87 V) outshines all reported analogues. The excellent performance of FeCu@C-N should be attributed to a change in the energy of the d-band center of Cu resulting from the formation of the copper-iron alloy, the interaction between alloy nanoparticles and supports and N-doping in the carbon matrix. Moreover, FeCu@C and FeCu@C-N show better electrochemical stability and methanol tolerance than commercial Pt/C and are expected to be widely used in practical applications.
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