Nature Communications (Aug 2016)

Identification of carbon-encapsulated iron nanoparticles as active species in non-precious metal oxygen reduction catalysts

  • Jason A. Varnell,
  • Edmund C. M. Tse,
  • Charles E. Schulz,
  • Tim T. Fister,
  • Richard T. Haasch,
  • Janis Timoshenko,
  • Anatoly I. Frenkel,
  • Andrew A. Gewirth

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms12582
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 7, no. 1
pp. 1 – 9

Abstract

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Determining active species in non-precious metal catalysts for the oxygen reduction reaction remains a challenge due to catalyst heterogeneity. Here the authors perform gas-phase treatments on an iron-based catalyst to allow the identification of carbon-encapsulated iron nanoparticles as the active species.