Modification of the Fe,Co–N/C catalysts for oxygen reduction reaction by a chemical post-treatment with oxidizing agents

The transition-metals carbon catalysts belong to intensively studied alternatives to the Pt-based catalysts promoting the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) in electrochemical fuel cells (FCs). Commonly studied Fe,Co–N–C composites are usually obtained through pyrolysis and used as such or after a chemical post-treatment with an oxidizing agent. This treatment is applied to remove inactive metal species, thus, promoting the electrochemical activity. The impact of an oxidizing agent is poorly addressed in the literature, while its nature may negatively affect the catalyst's performance. Herein we report the first comparative study on the effect of post-treatment with the most common oxidizing agents such as HCl, HNO3, H2SO4 and H2O2, on the structural and electrochemical properties of the Fe,Co–N–C catalyst. The catalyst is made by pyrolysis of the Co,Zn-ZIF metal-organic framework enriched with iron and nitrogen. Its structure was observed withstanding the action of mineral acids but suffers from hydrogen peroxide. The treatment with either nitric or chloric acid may improve the electrochemical performance up to 4%, while other agents decrease that by 6% and slow down the ORR rate. These findings are useful for the careful design of post-treatment procedures for carbon catalysts.