Nitrogen-Doped Porous Carbon Matrix Derived from Metal-Organic Framework-Supported Pt Nanoparticles with Enhanced Oxygen Reduction Activity

Herein, a porous nitrogen-doped carbon material (NH2-MIL-101-C) derived from the metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) of NH2-MIL-101 ([Fe3OX(NH2-BDC)(3)](n), X: OH, NH2-BDC: 2-aminoterephthalic acid) is applied as a corrosion-resistant support matrix for the growth of Pt nanoparticles (NH2-MIL-101-C@Pt). The Pt nanoparticles could be uniformly and steadily deposited on the porous carbon support matrix, owing to their strong interactions, which effectively inhibited agglomeration of the nanoparticles. NH2-MIL-101-C@Pt is tested for the possible factors as an excellent oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) catalyst in basic medium. Compared to the commercial Pt/C catalyst, enhanced ORR activity and greater long-time durability is obtained when using the NH2-MIL-101-C@Pt catalyst. In addition, it is proved that the enhanced activity should be ascribed to the alternate local electron density of Pt in the NH2-MIL-101-C@Pt catalyst, which convincingly change the d-band center of Pt compared to the Fermi level and promotes faster ORR kinetics.