Revealing the Importance of Iron Aerogel Features as Electrocatalysts for the Oxygen Reduction Reaction
Metal nanoparticles supported in carbon materials are the traditional electrocatalyst currently used in many applications. However, these composite materials have many problems associated with the optimization of both components for the specific application, besides the stability of the mixture. Sel...
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MDPI AG
2025-02-01
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| author | Judith González-Lavín Ana Arenillas Natalia Rey-Raap |
| author_facet | Judith González-Lavín Ana Arenillas Natalia Rey-Raap |
| author_sort | Judith González-Lavín |
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| description | Metal nanoparticles supported in carbon materials are the traditional electrocatalyst currently used in many applications. However, these composite materials have many problems associated with the optimization of both components for the specific application, besides the stability of the mixture. Self-supported metallic materials may be an interesting strategy in order to avoid the traditional carbon supports; however, these metallic materials should present highly active surface area. Iron aerogels are presented in this work as effective and affordable unsupported electrocatalysts. The combination of their metallic structure with high porosity (i.e., 85 m<sup>2</sup> g<sup>−1</sup> and 0.45 cm<sup>3</sup> g<sup>−1</sup> of mesopore volume), due to their interconnected tridimensional structure, leads to a great activity versus the oxygen reduction reaction. A method for producing iron aerogels based on microwave-assisted sol–gel methodology is presented. The incorporation of carbon functionalities to the iron aerogels seems to clearly influence the mechanism of the reaction, favoring the direct mechanism of the oxygen reduction reaction and thus notably improving the performance of the electrocatalysts. Chemical vapor deposition seems to be an adequate methodology for incorporating carbon functionalities to the transition metal structure without affecting the tridimensional network and leading to current densities over 4 mA cm<sup>−2</sup> and great stability even after 10,000 s. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-a6692aab39a14bbd84a76d8d72bb616e |
| institution | DOAJ |
| issn | 2310-2861 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-02-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
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| series | Gels |
| spelling | doaj-art-a6692aab39a14bbd84a76d8d72bb616e2025-08-20T02:42:32ZengMDPI AGGels2310-28612025-02-0111315410.3390/gels11030154Revealing the Importance of Iron Aerogel Features as Electrocatalysts for the Oxygen Reduction ReactionJudith González-Lavín0Ana Arenillas1Natalia Rey-Raap2Instituto de Ciencia y Tecnología del Carbono, INCAR-CSIC, 33011 Oviedo, SpainInstituto de Ciencia y Tecnología del Carbono, INCAR-CSIC, 33011 Oviedo, SpainInstituto de Ciencia y Tecnología del Carbono, INCAR-CSIC, 33011 Oviedo, SpainMetal nanoparticles supported in carbon materials are the traditional electrocatalyst currently used in many applications. However, these composite materials have many problems associated with the optimization of both components for the specific application, besides the stability of the mixture. Self-supported metallic materials may be an interesting strategy in order to avoid the traditional carbon supports; however, these metallic materials should present highly active surface area. Iron aerogels are presented in this work as effective and affordable unsupported electrocatalysts. The combination of their metallic structure with high porosity (i.e., 85 m<sup>2</sup> g<sup>−1</sup> and 0.45 cm<sup>3</sup> g<sup>−1</sup> of mesopore volume), due to their interconnected tridimensional structure, leads to a great activity versus the oxygen reduction reaction. A method for producing iron aerogels based on microwave-assisted sol–gel methodology is presented. The incorporation of carbon functionalities to the iron aerogels seems to clearly influence the mechanism of the reaction, favoring the direct mechanism of the oxygen reduction reaction and thus notably improving the performance of the electrocatalysts. Chemical vapor deposition seems to be an adequate methodology for incorporating carbon functionalities to the transition metal structure without affecting the tridimensional network and leading to current densities over 4 mA cm<sup>−2</sup> and great stability even after 10,000 s.https://www.mdpi.com/2310-2861/11/3/154iron aerogelelectrocatalystoxygen reduction reactiontransition metalcarbon functionalization |
| spellingShingle | Judith González-Lavín Ana Arenillas Natalia Rey-Raap Revealing the Importance of Iron Aerogel Features as Electrocatalysts for the Oxygen Reduction Reaction Gels iron aerogel electrocatalyst oxygen reduction reaction transition metal carbon functionalization |
| title | Revealing the Importance of Iron Aerogel Features as Electrocatalysts for the Oxygen Reduction Reaction |
| title_full | Revealing the Importance of Iron Aerogel Features as Electrocatalysts for the Oxygen Reduction Reaction |
| title_fullStr | Revealing the Importance of Iron Aerogel Features as Electrocatalysts for the Oxygen Reduction Reaction |
| title_full_unstemmed | Revealing the Importance of Iron Aerogel Features as Electrocatalysts for the Oxygen Reduction Reaction |
| title_short | Revealing the Importance of Iron Aerogel Features as Electrocatalysts for the Oxygen Reduction Reaction |
| title_sort | revealing the importance of iron aerogel features as electrocatalysts for the oxygen reduction reaction |
| topic | iron aerogel electrocatalyst oxygen reduction reaction transition metal carbon functionalization |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2310-2861/11/3/154 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT judithgonzalezlavin revealingtheimportanceofironaerogelfeaturesaselectrocatalystsfortheoxygenreductionreaction AT anaarenillas revealingtheimportanceofironaerogelfeaturesaselectrocatalystsfortheoxygenreductionreaction AT nataliareyraap revealingtheimportanceofironaerogelfeaturesaselectrocatalystsfortheoxygenreductionreaction |