Nitrogen-doped carbon-supported cobalt-iron oxygen reduction catalyst

1. A method for preparing a Fe—Co hybrid catalyst, comprising:

reacting an ethyleneamine with a cobalt-containing precursor to form a cobalt-containing complex,

combining the cobalt-containing complex with an electroconductive carbon supporting material,

heating the cobalt-containing complex and electroconductive carbon supporting material under conditions suitable to convert the cobalt-containing complex and electroconductive carbon supporting material into a cobalt-containing catalyst support,

polymerizing an aniline in the presence of said cobalt-containing catalyst support and an iron-containing compound under conditions suitable to form a supported, cobalt-containing, iron-bound polyaniline species,

subjecting said supported, cobalt-containing, iron bound polyaniline species to conditions suitable for producing a Fe—Co hybrid catalyst.

2. A method of catalyst synthesis comprising:

a) providing an ethyleneamine-cobalt-carbon support by:

i) combining a cobalt-containing precursor, an ethyleneamine, and carbon black and a first suitable solvent to produce a suspension;

ii) evaporating the solvent from the suspension to form an intermediate mixture;

iii) heating the intermediate mixture in an inert atmosphere; and

iv) acidifying to form a first mixture;

b) providing a polyaniline-iron complex by combining an iron-containing precursor with a polyaniline compound in a second suitable solvent to produce a second mixture;

c) combining the first mixture with the second mixture to produce a third mixture;

d) heating the third mixture in an inert atmosphere to a first temperature;

e) subsequently acidifying the third mixture; and

f) subsequently re-heating the third mixture to a second temperature to anchor the polyaniline-iron complex to the ethyleneamine-cobalt-carbon support.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the ethyleneamine comprises ethylenediamine, diethylenetriamine, or combinations thereof.

4. The method of claim 2 , wherein the cobalt-containing precursor is Co(NO 3 ) 2 .6H 2 O.

5. The method of claim 2 , wherein the heating step of step a) iii) is to a temperature of at least 900° C.

6. The method of claim 2 , wherein the acidifying step of a) iv) is performed at a temperature of at least 80° C.

7. The method of claim 2 , further including a step of polymerizing an aniline using (NH 4 ) 2 S 2 O 8 as oxidizing agent.

8. The method of claim 2 , wherein the iron-containing precursor is FeCl 3 .

9. The method of claim 2 , wherein the first temperature is at least 900° C.

10. The method of claim 2 , wherein the second temperature is at least 900° C.

11. The method of claim 2 , wherein the second mixture is acidified at a temperature of at least 80° C.