Recent Progress in MOF-Derived, Heteroatom-Doped Porous Carbons as Highly Efficient Electrocatalysts for Oxygen Reduction Reaction in Fuel Cells

Currently, developing nonprecious-metal catalysts to replace Pt-based electro-catalysts in fuel cells has become a hot topic because the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) in fuel cells often requires platinum, a precious metal, as a catalyst, which is one of the major hurdles for commercialization of the fuel cells. Recently, the newly emerging metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) have been widely used as self-sacrificed precursors/templates to fabricate heteroatom-doped porous carbons. Here, the recent progress of MOF-derived, heteroatom-doped porous carbon catalysts for ORR in fuel cells is systematically reviewed, and the synthesis strategies for using different MOF precursors to prepare heteroatom-doped porous carbon catalysts, including the direct carbonization of MOFs, MOF and heteroatom source mixture carbonization, and MOF-based composite carbonization are summarized. The emphasis is placed on the precursor design of MOF-derived metal-free catalysts and transition-metal-doped carbon catalysts because the MOF precursors often determine the microstructures of the derived porous carbon catalysts. The discussion provides a useful strategy for in situ synthesis of heteroatom-doped carbon ORR electrocatalysts by rationally designing MOF precursors. Due to the versatility of MOF structures, MOF-derived porous carbons not only provide chances to develop highly efficient ORR electrocatalysts, but also broaden the family of nanoporous carbons for applications in supercapacitors and batteries.