Electrospun Iron/Polyacrylonitrile Derived Nanofibrous Catalysts for Oxygen Reduction Reaction

Current proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) suffers from high material costs due to the use of platinum based catalysts necessary for the catalysis of the notoriously slow oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) occurring at the cathode of the cell. The use of significantly cheaper non-precious metal catalysts over expensive platinum catalysts can significantly reduce the material cost of PEMFCs. In the current work, non-precious nanofibrous catalysts were prepared by electrospinning a solution of iron acetate and polyacrylonitrile and subjecting the electrospun fibers to high temperature pyrolysis. The resulting nanofibrous catalysts were evaluated for their ORR activity and characterized via SEM, BET surface area analysis, and XPS. The nanofibrous catalysts were also acid leached and exposed to a second high temperature pyrolysis treatment, showing improved ORR activity. Physical characterization of the twice pyrolyzed catalyst suggests that the catalyst exhibits higher ORR activity due to increased surface area and micropore volume.