On an Easy Way To Prepare Metal-Nitrogen Doped Carbon with Exclusive Presence of MeN4-type Sites Active for the ORR.

Today, most metal and nitrogen doped carbon catalysts for ORR reveal a heterogeneous composition. This can be reasoned by a nonoptimized precursor composition and various steps in the preparation process to get the required active material. The significant presence of inorganic metal species interferes with the assignment of descriptors related to the ORR activity and stability. In this work we present a simple and feasible way to reduce the contribution of inorganic metal species in some cases even down to zero. Such catalysts reveal the desired homogeneous composition of MeN4 (Me = metal) sites in the carbon that is accompanied by a significant enhancement in ORR activity. Among the work of other international groups, our iron-based catalyst comprises the highest density of FeN4 sites ever reported without interference of inorganic metal sites.