Electrospinning of Magnetite–Polyacrylonitrile Composites for the Production of Oxygen Reduction Reaction Catalysts
Al Mamun,
Francisco José García-Mateos,
Lilia Sabantina,
Michaela Klöcker,
Elise Diestelhorst,
Ramiro Ruiz-Rosas,
Juana María Rosas,
José Rodríguez-Mirasol,
Tomasz Blachowicz,
Tomás Cordero
Affiliations
Al Mamun
Junior Research Group “Nanomaterials”, Faculty of Engineering and Mathematics, Bielefeld University of Applied Sciences and Arts, 33619 Bielefeld, Germany
Francisco José García-Mateos
Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Malaga, Andalucia Tech., Campus de Teatinos, 29010 Málaga, Spain
Lilia Sabantina
Faculty of Apparel Engineering and Textile Processing, Berlin University of Applied Sciences—HTW Berlin, 12459 Berlin, Germany
Michaela Klöcker
Faculty of Engineering and Mathematics, Bielefeld University of Applied Sciences and Arts, 33619 Bielefeld, Germany
Elise Diestelhorst
Faculty of Engineering and Mathematics, Bielefeld University of Applied Sciences and Arts, 33619 Bielefeld, Germany
Ramiro Ruiz-Rosas
Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Malaga, Andalucia Tech., Campus de Teatinos, 29010 Málaga, Spain
Juana María Rosas
Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Malaga, Andalucia Tech., Campus de Teatinos, 29010 Málaga, Spain
José Rodríguez-Mirasol
Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Malaga, Andalucia Tech., Campus de Teatinos, 29010 Málaga, Spain
Tomasz Blachowicz
Institute of Physics—CSE, Silesian University of Technology, 44-100 Gliwice, Poland
Tomás Cordero
Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Malaga, Andalucia Tech., Campus de Teatinos, 29010 Málaga, Spain
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.
