Preparation and catalytic activity for oxygen reduction reaction of tungsten nitirde-tungsten/nitrogen doped ordered mesoporous carbon

Tungsten nitride-Tungsten/nitrogen doped ordered mesoporous carbon (WN/W-NOMC), as a non-precious-metal cathode catalyst for oxygen reduction reaction (ORR), was successfully synthesized through a soft-template method. The amount of nitrogen was adjusted by urea, and when the content of nitrogen was 7% (w/w), the obtained composite had highly ordered mesoporous structure, and its specific surface area reached to 835 m²-g^-1. Transmission electron microscope (TEM) shows that the catalytic particles were uniform supported on NOMC. ORR test was conducted in O₂-staturated 0.1 mol-L^-1 KOH solution, the oneset potential is 0.87 V (vs RHE) and the limiting current density is 4.49 mA-cm"². The transfer number of electron was 3.4, which was close to commercial 20%(w/w) Pt/C (3.8), indicated that WN-NOMC exhibited an approximate 4e^- transfer pathway during the ORR process. Though the catalytic activity is less than Pt C, the excellent methanol tolerance and long-time electrochemical stability make WN-W/NOMC to be a potential electrode catalyst for ORR.