Hangjia Shen1,2, Eduardo Gracia-Espino3, Jingyuan Ma4, Ketao Zang5, Jun Luo5, Le Wang1,2, Sanshuang Gao1, Xamxikamar Mamat1, Guangzhi Hu1,3, Thomas Wagberg3, Shaojun Guo6. 1. Key Laboratory of Chemistry of Plant Resources in Arid Regions, State Key Laboratory Basis of Xinjiang indigenous medicinal plants resource utilization, Xinjiang Technical Institute of Physics and Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Urumqi, 830011, China. 2. University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China. 3. Department of Physics, Umeå University, 90187, Umeå, Sweden. 4. Shanghai Synchrotron Radiation Facility, Shanghai Institute of Applied Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, 201204, China. 5. Center for Electron Microscopy, Tianjin Key Laboratory of Advanced Functional Porous Materials, Institute for New Energy Materials & Low-Carbon Technologies, School of Materials, Tianjin University of Technology, Tianjin, 300384, China. 6. Department of Materials Science and Engineering, College of Engineering, Peking University, Beijing, 100871, China.
Abstract
Various advanced catalysts based on sulfur-doped Fe/N/C materials have recently been designed for the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR); however, the enhanced activity is still controversial and usually attributed to differences in the surface area, improved conductivity, or uncertain synergistic effects. Herein, a sulfur-doped Fe/N/C catalyst (denoted as Fe/SNC) was obtained by a template-sacrificing method. The incorporated sulfur gives a thiophene-like structure (C-S-C), reduces the electron localization around the Fe centers, improves the interaction with oxygenated species, and therefore facilitates the complete 4 e- ORR in acidic solution. Owing to these synergistic effects, the Fe/SNC catalyst exhibits much better ORR activity than the sulfur-free variant (Fe/NC) in 0.5 m H2 SO4 .
Various advanced catalysts based on sulfur-doped n class="Chemical">Fe/N/C materials have recently been designed for the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR); however, the enhanced activity is still controversial and usually attributed to differences in the surface area, improved conductivity, or uncertain synergistic effects. Herein, a sulfur-doped Fe/N/C catalyst (denoted as Fe/SNC) was obtained by a template-sacrificing method. The incorporated sulfur gives a thiophene-like structure (C-S-C), reduces the electron localization around the Fe centers, improves the interaction with oxygenated species, and therefore facilitates the complete 4 e- ORR in acidic solution. Owing to these synergistic effects, the Fe/SNC catalyst exhibits much better ORR activity than the sulfur-free variant (Fe/NC) in 0.5 m H2SO4 .