Developing an advanced electrocatalyst derived from Ce(TTA)3Phen embedded polyaniline for oxygen reduction reaction

Abstract The search for non-precious-metal catalysts with low cost, high activity and stability to substitute Pt in oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) attracts tremendous attention. Herein, novel ORR electrocatalysts of cerium species embedded N-doped carbon (CENC) materials are prepared by the chemical oxidative polymerization and pyrolysis methods, using polyaniline-coated cerium organic complex (Ce(TTA)3Phen) as the precursor. The experimental results have revealed that the electrocatalytic activity of the obtained electrocatalysts for ORR is affected by the pyrolysis temperature. Remarkably, the as-prepared CENC-1000 exhibits a good catalytic activity in terms of limiting current density, onset potential and half wave potential, as well as superior tolerance to methanol crossover for ORR as comparable to commercial Pt/C in alkaline media. The high performance is attributed to the introduction of nitrogen active sites and Ce active species (generated from the pyrolysis of CENC precursor), which endow CENC-1000 with enhanced electrocatalytic activity. This approach makes CENC-1000 a promising candidate as cathode catalyst in renewable energy conversion devices.