Production of Fe3C/N-doped carbon hybrid and its electrocatalytic performance for oxygen evolution reactions

Electrochemical water splitting is an important process for next generation of eco-friendly energy systems. The oxygen evolution reaction (OER), which occurs at an anode during the process, requires efficient electrocatalysts to reduce activation energies. Although Ru- or Ir-containing materials show excellent electrocatalytic activities, their high cost is a critical drawback. Consequently, the development of efficient electrocatalysts composed of low-cost metal components is a great challenge. In this study, we develop a new route to produce a hybrid material (Fe–NC) containing Fe 3 C particles dispersed on the surface of N-doped carbon (NC) materials by heat treatment of a mixture of urea and Fe(II)Cl 2 (H 2 O) 4 . Microscopic analyses prove that the Fe 3 C particles are placed on the surfaces of thin NC materials. Additionally, various characterizations reveal that the particles contain Fe 3 C structure. Fe–NC shows good electrocatalytic properties with onset and overpotentials of 1.57 V and 545 mV, respectively, for OER in KOH electrolyte. This study suggests the possibility of the use of Fe 3 C-based composites as OER electrocatalysts.