Highly active Fe, N co-doped graphene nanoribbon/carbon nanotube composite catalyst for oxygen reduction reaction

The exploration of non-precious metal electrocatalyst with high performance for oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) is vital for widespread application of fuel cells. In this study, we presented a rational designed Fe, N-doped graphene nanoribbon/carbon nanotube composite (FeN-uCNT) based on partial longitudinally unzipped MWCNTs with abundant edge defects as a highly active catalyst for ORR. The obtained FeN-uCNT exhibited excellent ORR performance and methanol resistance in alkaline medium. And its mass activity at 1.0 V (RHE) can reach up to 1.36 A g−1, equal to that of commercial Pt/C. The ORR current retained 81% after 30,000 s durability test at 0.9 V. The superiority of graphene carbon defects for improving heteroatom doping level was verified, leading to the increase in the density of active sites and high ORR activity. These results demonstrated the FeN-uCNT a promising candidate for ORR catalyst in fuel cells.