Catalysis

Composite number

Engineering

Fabrication

Electrochemistry

Materials science

Methanol

Carbon fibers

Chemical engineering

Physical chemistry

Alternative medicine

Nanotechnology

Organic chemistry

Composite material

Medicine

Chemistry

Electrode

Oxygen reduction reaction

Pathology

Advanced Materials

Exploration of high-efficiency, economical, and ultrastable electrocatalysts for the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) to substitute precious Pt is of great significance in electrochemical energy conversion devices. Single-atom catalysts (SACs) have sparked tremendous interest for their maximum atom-utilization efficiency and fascinating properties. Therefore, the development of effective synthetic methodology toward SACs becomes highly imperative yet still remains greatly challenging. Herein, a reliable SiO2 -templated strategy is elaborately designed to synthesize atomically dispersed Fe atoms anchored on N-doped carbon nanospheres (denoted as Fe-N-C HNSs) using the cheap and sustainable biomaterial of histidine (His) as the N and C precursor. By virtue of the numerous atomically dispersed Fe-N4 moieties and unique spherical hollow architecture, the as-fabricated Fe-N-C HNSs exhibit excellent ORR performance in alkaline medium with outstanding activity, high long-term stability, and superior tolerance to methanol crossover, exceeding the commercial Pt/C catalyst and most previously reported non-precious-metal catalysts. This present synthetic strategy will provide new inspiration to the fabrication of various high-efficiency single-atom catalysts for diverse applications.

Atomic Fe Dispersed on N-Doped Carbon Hollow Nanospheres for High-Efficiency Electrocatalytic Oxygen Reduction