Influence of Nitrogen Doping on Oxygen Reduction Electrocatalysis at Carbon Nanofiber Electrodes

Nondoped and nitrogen-doped (N-doped) carbon nanofiber (CNF) electrodes were prepared via a floating catalyst chemical vapor deposition (CVD) method using precursors consisting of ferrocene and either xylene or pyridine to control the nitrogen content. Structural and compositional differences between the nondoped and N-doped varieties were assessed using TEM, BET, Raman, TGA, and XPS. Electrochemical methods were used to study the influence of nitrogen doping on the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR). The N-doped CNF electrodes demonstrate significant catalytic activity toward oxygen reduction in aqueous KNO(3) solutions at neutral to basic pH. Electrochemical data are presented which indicate that the ORR…