Iron and Iodine Co-doped Triazine-Based Frameworks with Efficient Oxygen Reduction Reaction in Alkaline and Acidic Media

The oxygen reduction reaction (ORR), which is a crucial process in fuel cells and metal-air batteries, is currently dominated by Pt-based electrocatalysts. However, these catalysts are expensive and rare on Earth; therefore, these factors are considered to impede the widespread commercialization of these technologies. As a consequence, the development of non-Pt catalysts (such as transition-metal materials) with high performance for ORR has become a main focus of research regarding these renewable energy devices. In the present work, a series of porous triazine-based frameworks (PTFs) co-decorated by iron and iodine have been successfully prepared, using different element doping sequences during the synthesis process. The PTF-Fe-I catalysts shows a high ORR activity in both alkaline and acidic media, with an onset potential of 0.95 V (in basic medium) or 0.85 V (in acidic medium) at a loading of 0.3 mg cm(-2). This performance not only exceeds that of the dual-doped counterparts (PTF-I-Fe and PTF-(Fe, I)), but is also comparable to that of the Pt/C catalyst under identical measuring conditions. This work demonstrates a promising synthesis-engineering strategy for the future design and preparation of highly efficient Pt-free electrocatalysts.