Porous nitrogen-doped carbon nanosheets composite Fe3C synthesized by molten salt-mediated template method as efficient ORR catalyst for zinc-air batteries

Qing Long; Qianqi Wu; Zhiming Wen; Wei Wang; Chen Li; Huichuan Tang; Haitao Wang; Junlin Huang; Liang Chen; Gangyong Li; Wenyuan Xu

doi:10.1007/s42823-024-00802-5

Porous nitrogen-doped carbon nanosheets composite Fe3C synthesized by molten salt-mediated template method as efficient ORR catalyst for zinc-air batteries

Carbon Letters
Abbr : Carbon Lett.
2025, 35(2), pp.623~633
DOI : 10.1007/s42823-024-00802-5
Publisher : Korean Carbon Society
Research Area : Natural Science > Natural Science General > Other Natural Sciences General
Received : June 28, 2024
Accepted : August 28, 2024
Published : June 5, 2025

Qing Long ¹, Qianqi Wu ¹, Zhiming Wen ¹, Wei Wang ¹, Chen Li ¹, Huichuan Tang ¹, Haitao Wang ², Junlin Huang ¹, Liang Chen ¹, Gangyong Li ¹, Wenyuan Xu ¹

¹Hunan Institute of Science and Technology
²Wuhan Institute of Technology

Accredited

ABSTRACT

Considering the intrinsic activity of non-precious metal oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) catalysts is typically lower than that of precious metal catalysts, it is crucial to focus on the rational design of their micro-morphology and active site. This paper employed a simple molten salt-mediated template method to fabricate a Fe3C composite N-doped C catalyst with a layered porous framework (Fe3C@NC). Tannic acid was utilized to form a strong coordination with iron to limit the grain size of Fe3C nanocrystals generated by high-temperature pyrolysis. Moreover, urea achieved nitrogen doping in tannic acid-derived porous carbon, while the graphite phase nitrogen-doped carbon (g-C3N4) formed by its pyrolysis, together with the molten salt-mediated environment, jointly controlled the two-dimensional sheet-like structure of the material. The optimized Fe3C@NC-800 demonstrated efficient ORR performance, with an ORR half-wave potential of 0.883 V. Its application as a cathode catalyst in a liquid zinc-air battery (ZABs) exhibits a maximum power density of 211.5 mW cm−2, surpassing that of a Pt/C-based ZAB and indicating the potential practical utility of this material.

KEYWORDS

Molten salt, Fe3C, N-doped carbon, ORR, Zinc-air battery

Citation status

This is the result of checking the information with the same ISSN, publication year, volume, and start page between the WoS and the KCI journals. (as of 2026-07-09)

Total Citation Counts(KCI+WOS) (15) This is the number of times that the duplicate count has been removed by comparing the citation list of WoS and KCI.

* References for papers published after 2025 are currently being built.

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Carbon Letters 2025 KCI Impact Factor : 0.73 KCI-WoS Impact Factor : 6.26

Porous nitrogen-doped carbon nanosheets composite Fe3C synthesized by molten salt-mediated template method as efficient ORR catalyst for zinc-air batteries

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Citation status

This is the result of checking the information with the same ISSN, publication year, volume, and start page between the WoS and the KCI journals. (as of 2026-07-09)

Total Citation Counts(KCI+WOS) (15) This is the number of times that the duplicate count has been removed by comparing the citation list of WoS and KCI.

* References for papers published after 2025 are currently being built.

Carbon Letters 2025 KCI Impact Factor : 0.73 KCI-WoS Impact Factor : 6.26

Porous nitrogen-doped carbon nanosheets composite Fe3C synthesized by molten salt-mediated template method as efficient ORR catalyst for zinc-air batteries

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WoS Citation Counts (15) This is the result of checking the information with the same ISSN, publication year, volume, and start page between the WoS and the KCI journals. (as of 2026-07-09)

Total Citation Counts(KCI+WOS) (15) This is the number of times that the duplicate count has been removed by comparing the citation list of WoS and KCI.

REFERENCES (67) * References for papers published after 2025 are currently being built.

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This is the result of checking the information with the same ISSN, publication year, volume, and start page between the WoS and the KCI journals. (as of 2026-07-09)

* References for papers published after 2025 are currently being built.