Fe Single Atoms Anchored on N-doped Mesoporous Carbon Microspheres for Promoted Oxygen Reduction Reaction

Fe single atoms (Fe SAs) based catalysts have received much attention in electrocatalytic oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) due to its low-cost and high activity. Yet, the facile synthesis of efficient and stable Fe SAs catalysts is still challenging. Here, we reported a Fe SAs anchored on N-doped mesoporous carbon microspheres (NC) catalyst via spraying drying and pyrolysis processes. The highly active Fe SAs are uniformly distributed on the NC matrix, which prevented the aggregation benefiting from the enhanced Fe-N bonds. Also, the mesoporous carbon structure is favorable for fast electron and mass transfer. The optimized Fe@NC-2-900 catalyst shows positive half wave potential (E_1/2=0.86 V vs reversible hydrogen electrodes (RHE)) and starting potential (E_onset=0.98 V vs RHE) in ORR, which is comparable to the commercial Pt/C catalyst (E_1/2=0.87 V, E_onset=1.08 V vs RHE). Outstanding stability with a current retention rate of 92.5 % for 9 hours and good methanol tolerance are achieved. The assembled zinc-air batteries showed good stability up to 500 hours at a current density of 5 mA cm^-2. This work shows potentials of Fe SAs based catalysts for the practical application in ORR and pave a new avenue for promoting their catalytic performances.