Polypyrrole-derived Fe-Co-N-C catalyst for oxygen reduction reaction: performance in alkaline hydrogen and ethanol fuel cells

Alkaline Membrane Fuel Cells (AMFCs), have started to become more attractive in recent years due to the development of polymeric membranes with good anionic conductivity and durability. However, few studies investigating the performance of H2/O2 fuelled AMFCs and alkaline Direct Ethanol Fuel Cells (DEFCs) with membrane electrode assemblies (MEAs) fabricated with Pt-group metal (PGM) free catalysts are available in the literature. In this paper, we synthesised and fully characterized a Fe-Co-N-C electrocatalyst for oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) by sacrificial method, using pyrrole as a unique and cheap precursor of the N-doped carbonaceous material. A very good ORR activity and stability was obtained in alkaline conditions, most likely due to the presence of Co-Fe@C nanoparticles. We achieved a very high performance in AMFC, 420 mW cm–2 at 60 °C, among the highest in the literature for PGMfree catalysts, and a good performance in passive DEFC, 28 mW cm–2 at room temperature.