Two-dimensional closely packed amide polyphthalocyanine iron absorbed on Vulcan XC-72 as an efficient electrocatalyst for oxygen reduction reaction

It is crucial to design the inexpensive and highly efficient electrocatalysts for oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) for the future commercialization of fuel cell devices. Herein, a closely packed amide polyphthalocyanine iron (CPMPcFe) with two-dimensional planar structure supported by Vulcan XC-72 was firstly prepared, and then the precursor was sintered at 400 degrees C under an Ar flow to obtain the CPMPcFe/C (1:1) catalyst. The SEM and TEM images of the CPMPcFe/C catalysts confirmed that CPMPcFe was well distributed on the surface of Vulcan XC-72. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) further identified the active center of CPMPcFe/C (1:1, 400 degrees C) was FeN4 in the polyphthalocyanine ring. Electrochemically, CPMPcFe/C displays excellent oxygen reduction reaction electrocatalytical properties. Firstly, it showed a half-wave potential of 0.87 V, which was more positive than those of iron phthalocyanine/C (FePc/C, 0.71 V) and 6 wt% Pt/C (0.83 V). The oxygen reduction current loss of CPMPcFe/C after 5000-cycle cyclic voltammetry test was 0.05 mA cm(-2), while that of FePc/C was 0.35 mA cm(-2). Chronoamperometry tests showed that FePc/C exhibited a rapid decrease of the current density by about 28.2%, while there was only about 16.9% loss for the current density of CPMPcFe/C under the same operation.