Oxygen Reduction non-PGM Catalysts for Direct Methanol Fuel Cell Application

Here, in-house M-N-C (M = Fe or Co) cathode catalysts have been synthesized by a low-cost and environmentally friendly nitrogen precursor (ethylene diamine tetra acetic acid, EDTA) and from a high-surface functionalized carbon (Ketjenblack). The investigation was carried out for catalysts treated at different temperatures: catalysts derived from a heat treatment at 800 °C have been labelled as FeNC8 and CoNC8, depending on the chelated metal (Fe or Co), whereas the heat treatment at 1000 °C produced two samples named FeNC10 and CoNC10. The mentioned catalysts deposited at the cathode of a DMFC have been electrochemically characterized to evaluate their performance.