Electrospinning of Magnetite–Polyacrylonitrile Composites for the Production of Oxygen Reduction Reaction Catalysts

• DOI: 10.3390/polym15204064
• Publication Date: 2023-10-12T11:28:44Z
• Authors: Al Mamun; Francisco José Ga...; Lilia Sabantina; Michaela Klöcker; Elise Diestelhorst; Ramiro Ruiz-Rosas; Juana María Rosas; José Rodríguez-Mi...; Tomasz Blachowicz; Tomás Cordero
• Keywords: PAN; Magnetite; ORR; Electrospinning; Iron-nitrogen catalyst; Fuel cells; Article

In this study, electrospun carbon fiber electrodes were prepared by the carbonization of PAN–Fe3O4 electrospun fibers at 800 °C for their use as catalysts in the oxygen reduction reaction in an alkaline electrolyte. Magnetic nanofiber mats were fabricated using a needle-free electrospinning method by incorporating magnetic nanoparticles into a polymer solution. Electrochemical tests revealed that the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) activity is optimized at an intermediate magnetite loading of 30% wt. These catalysts not only show better performance compared to their counterparts but also achieve high selectivity to water at low potentials. The onset and half-wave potentials of 0.92 and 0.76 V shown by these samples are only slightly behind those of the commercial Pt 20%-carbon black ORR catalyst. The obtained results point out that the electrospinning of PAN-Fe3O4 solutions allows the preparation of advanced N-Fe ORR catalysts in fibrillar morphology.