High Durability of Fe–N–C Single‐Atom Catalysts with Carbon Vacancies toward the Oxygen Reduction Reaction in Alkaline Media

Abstract Single‐atom catalysts (SACs) have attracted extensive interest to catalyze the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) in fuel cells and metal–air batteries. However, the development of SACs with high selectivity and long‐term stability is a great challenge. In this work, carbon vacancy modified Fe–N–C SACs (Fe H –N–C) are practically designed and synthesized through microenvironment modulation, achieving high‐efficient utilization of active sites and optimization of electronic structures. The Fe H –N–C catalyst exhibits a half‐wave potential ( E 1/2 ) of 0.91 V and sufficient durability of 100 000 voltage cycles with 29 mV E 1/2 loss. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations confirm that the vacancies…

• UO
  University of Technology Sydney
• NN
  National Natural Science Foundation of China

  Awards: 21403092, 52174281
• AR
  Australian Research Council

  Awards: FT180100705, DP180102297