Installation of metal clusters adjacent to dual-Fe sites for enhanced oxygen reduction

Fe-based dual-metal center catalysts, featuring intermetallic d-d orbital coupling, have garnered significant interest for enhancing oxygen reduction reaction (ORR). Modulation of the adjacent microenvironment to dual-metal sites is central to further enhancing the ORR performance, but remains an underexplored area. In this study, an atomic-scale electrocatalyst is strategically synthesized, which consists of dual-Fe sites and Fe-based atomic clusters (FeDS/MC-NC). Driven by these Fe-based atomic clusters, FeDS/MC-NC achieves a half-wave potential of up to 0.920 V vs. RHE during the ORR and exhibits a kinetic current density up to 7 times that of commercial Pt/C at 0.880 V vs. RHE. Additionally, FeDS/MC-NC achieves a maximum power density of 214.6 mW cm−2 and maintains a negligible expansion of the voltage window after over 1000 cycles for Zn-air batteries. Theoretical calculations reveal that the Fe3O4 clusters contribute significantly to the dual-Fe sites in FeDS/MC-NC. These Fe3O4 clusters, positioned adjacent to the dual-Fe sites, induce spin polarization of the active centers through a weak interaction. This results in a positive shift of the spin-down orbitals towards the vicinity of the Fermi energy level, enhancing the adsorption of the key reaction intermediate OOH* and ultimately accelerating the reaction kinetics. This work may open up an avenue to construct dual-metal center catalysts with tunable atomic structures.