Analysis of forming process of nitrogen-doped carbon catalyst derived from Fe 1,10-phenanthroline compound and its oxygen reduction reaction activity

Abstract The pyrolysis behavior of iron 1,10-phenanthroline compound, the change of crystalline structure of iron in the iron 1,10-phenanthroline compound, and nitrogen chemical state of nitrogen doped carbon catalyst derived from iron 1,10-phenanthroline compound were investigated to clarify the process of improvement of oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) activity on nitrogen-doped carbon catalyst by TGA, EGA-MS, HT-XRD, XRD, and XPS technique. The ORR activity drastically improved at a synthesis temperature of 700 °C, and was the highest at a synthesis temperature of 800 °C. But the ORR activity significantly dropped at a synthesis temperature of 900 °C. This low ORR activity of NC-900 is probably due to the increase of quaternary nitrogen ratio with progression of excessive carbonization, and the quaternary nitrogen to pyridine-like nitrogen ratio might be an important factor for improvement of the ORR activity.