Layered iron metal mesoporous carbon regulated by NaCl as tri-functional electrocatalyst toward ORR, OER and HER

The exquisitely engineered multifunctional electrocatalysts for oxygen reduction reactions (ORR), hydrogen evolution reactions (HER) and oxygen evolution reactions (OER) hold significant importance in current research. In this work, layered porous C-FeNC-900 electrocatalyst has been successfully prepared using a NaCl induced pyrolysis strategy based on metal organic frameworks (MOFs). The presence of NaCl during the pyrolysis process not only effectively enhances the porous structures, but also promotes numerous Fe N x active sites and improves the degree of carbon graphitization. Due to the simultaneous construction of highly active Fe N x sites on the graded porous carbon skeleton, the electrochemical accessibility and corrosion resistance are improved. The prepared C-FeNC-900 electrocatalyst exhibits a half wave potential of 0.859 V for ORR in alkaline conditions, exceeds the half wave potential of Pt/C at 0.854 V. Moreover, the results demonstrate C-FeNC-900 has excellent stability, with an initial current density retention of 88.45 % after a durability lasting 10,000 s. At the same time, C FeNC-900 has possesses a potential of 1.67 V at a current density of 10 mA cm −2 during OER testing, with a Tafel slope of 209 mV. The C FeNC-900 also displays HER performance with potential of 405 mV and Tafel slope of 178.4 mV. This study provides a new perspective to construct multifunctional catalysts with well-designed structure for clean energy conversion technologies.