Effect of Carbon Support on the Properties of Fe, N, S Co-Doped ORR Catalysts Prepared by Molten Salt Method

Abstract

In recent years, the development of sustainable and environmentally friendly catalysts for various electrochemical processes has become a major focus in the fields of energy storage and fine chemicals. Efficient and cost-effective oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) catalysts are crucial for the advancement of fuel cells and metal-air batteries. This study explores the use of rice husk-based porous carbon (RHPC) with a hierarchically porous structure as a support material for sustainable ORR catalysts. The performance of RHPC was compared with other commercial carbon materials, such as acetylene black (AB) and coconut shell carbon (YP-50), evaluating key properties including particle size, specific surface area, oxygen-containing functional groups, degree of graphitization, and hydrophilicity/hydrophobicity. Compared to AB, which has higher conductivity, and YP-50, which has a greater abundance of oxygen functional groups, RHPC demonstrated significant advantages as a catalyst support. The resulting Fe-NS/RHPC catalyst exhibited high activity (E1/2 = 0.858 V vs RHE, J = 4.83 mA cm−2), outperforming the standard Pt/C (E1/2 = 0.844 V vs RHE, J = 4.99 mA cm−2). When tested in a liquid Zn-air battery, the Fe-NS/RHPC catalyst achieved a peak power density of 116.2 mW cm−2 and a capacity of up to 792.5 mAh g−1.