Multi-scale study on bifunctional Co/Fe–N–C cathode catalyst layers with high active site density for the oxygen reduction reaction

Abstract Recently, much work has been devoted to designing catalysts with high porosity and efficient active sites. Although very promising results are achieved using Co/Fe–N–C catalysts based on rotating disk electrode (RDE) tests, actual fuel cell performance is below expectations, probably due to insufficient understanding of the catalyst layer (CL). Therefore, catalyst design should be considered holistically by taking into account CL performance, not only intrinsic activity. Here, Co/Fe–N–C with highly dispersed CoFe nanoalloy in the carbon network is obtained by careful design of Co/Fe-ZIF precursor, resulting in a high oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) site density with good stability. Concerning RDE test in the kinetic region and single cell test (SCT) with complex influence factors, the half-cell test (HCT) is introduced to more accurately evaluate the quality of the Co/Fe–CL. Multi-scale measurements (RDE, HCT and SCT) in different current density ranges allows targeting the key CL influence factors for fuel cell performance.