Nitrogen (N)-doped ordered mesoporous carbons (OMCs) with a dual transition metal
system were synthesized as non-Pt catalysts for the ORR. The highly nitrogen doped
OMCs were prepared by the precursor of ionic liquid (3-methyl-1-butylpyridine dicyanamide)
for N/C species and a mesoporous silica template for the physical structure.
Mostly, N-doped carbons are promoted by a single transition metal to improve
catalytic activity for ORR in PEMFCs. In this study, our N-doped mesoporous carbons
were promoted by the dual transition metals of iron and cobalt (Fe, Co), which were
incorporated into the N-doped carbons lattice by subsequently heat treatments. All the
prepared carbons were characterized by via transmission electron microscopy (TEM),
X-ray diffraction (XRD) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). To evaluate the
activities of synthesized doped carbons, linear sweep was recorded in an acidic solution
to compare the ORR catalytic activities values for the use in the PEMFC system. The
dual transition metal promotion improved the ORR activity compared with the single
transition metal promotion, due to the increase in the quaternary nitrogen species from
the structural change by the dual metals. The effect of different ratio of the dual metals
into the N doped carbon were examined to evaluate the activities of the oxygen reduction
reaction.