High-performance manganese and nitrogen codoped carbon (Mn-N-C) oxygen reduction electrocatalyst from Mn 2+ coordinated sodium alginate.

The research on low-cost, high-performance non platinum group metal (PGM) oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) catalysts is of great significance for the rapid promotion of fuel cells' practical applications. In this work, Mn-N-C catalyst with outstanding activity was prepared through using hydrogel formed by coordination of sodium alginate (SA) and Mn 2+ as the precursor. During the preparation process, g-C 3 N 4 was added to improve the surface area enrich the pore structure of catalysts, as well as to function as the nitrogen source. Compare with commercial Pt/C catalyst, the optimum Mn-N-C catalyst possesses extraordinary ORR activity in alkaline electrolytes, with a half-wave potential ( E 1/2 ) of 0.90 V. In addition, the Mn-N-C catalyst also displays exceptional stability in alkaline and acidic electrolytes, much superior to Pt/C catalyst.