Active‐Sites‐Integrated Hierarchical Porous Nanofibers for Improved Oxygen Reduction in Fuel Cells

M-N-C catalysts have emerged as a promising class of non-precious electrocatalysts for accelerating the kinetically sluggish oxygen reduction reaction (ORR). Nevertheless, their practical application in proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) faces significant challenges due to the complex reaction environment and stringent mass transport requirements, which place stringent demands on the structural design of electrocatalysts. Here, a strategy is proposed to construct a self-supporting membrane of zeolitic imidazolate framework-connected nanofibers, serving as an integrated substrate to cooperatively optimize active sites and mass transfer channels. The nanofiber-shaped electrocatalysts (Fe<sub>SA/AC</sub>-N-PCNFs) with hierarchical porous structure can achieve the anchor of well-dispersion atomically Fe-N<sub>4</sub> and Fe cluster. The Fe<sub>SA/AC</sub>-N-PCNFs, as a catalyst layer of cathode, to assemble PEMFC and realized 43% enhanced maximum power density compared with traditional spraying. The finite element simulation proved that the self-supported porous fiber structure effectively reduced the oxygen diffusion resistance in the electrode. This work established an effective enhancement strategy for the M-N-C electrocatalysts from the structure engineering, which opens new avenues for the design and manufacture of high-performance fuel cell electrocatalysts.

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Publication Details

Journal
Small
Published
2025-05-28
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1002/smll.202504253
Citations
15
Primary Topic
Electrocatalysts for Energy Conversion
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
5.45

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article

Active‐Sites‐Integrated Hierarchical Porous Nanofibers for Improved Oxygen Reduction in Fuel Cells

Yiming Leng, Zhonghua Xiang, Qing Han, Xinxin Lin et al.
15 citations
Small
Electrocatalysts for Energy Conversion
5.45
article

Active‐Sites‐Integrated Hierarchical Porous Nanofibers for Improved Oxygen Reduction in Fuel Cells

Yiming Leng, Zhonghua Xiang, Qing Han, Xinxin Lin, Jialiang Zhang
article en
15 citations

Abstract

M-N-C catalysts have emerged as a promising class of non-precious electrocatalysts for accelerating the kinetically sluggish oxygen reduction reaction (ORR). Nevertheless, their practical application in proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) faces significant challenges due to the complex reaction environment and stringent mass transport requirements, which place stringent demands on the structural design of electrocatalysts. Here, a strategy is proposed to construct a self-supporting membrane of zeolitic imidazolate framework-connected nanofibers, serving as an integrated substrate to cooperatively optimize active sites and mass transfer channels. The nanofiber-shaped electrocatalysts (Fe<sub>SA/AC</sub>-N-PCNFs) with hierarchical porous structure can achieve the anchor of well-dispersion atomically Fe-N<sub>4</sub> and Fe cluster. The Fe<sub>SA/AC</sub>-N-PCNFs, as a catalyst layer of cathode, to assemble PEMFC and realized 43% enhanced maximum power density compared with traditional spraying. The finite element simulation proved that the self-supported porous fiber structure effectively reduced the oxygen diffusion resistance in the electrode. This work established an effective enhancement strategy for the M-N-C electrocatalysts from the structure engineering, which opens new avenues for the design and manufacture of high-performance fuel cell electrocatalysts.

SmallVol. 21(30)
Beijing University of Chemical Technology (CN)
National Natural Science Foundation of China, Natural Science Foundation of Beijing Municipality, Key Technologies Research and Development Program
Openalex Percentile: Top 4%
Electrocatalysts for Energy Conversion
5.45
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