Structurally Tunable Graphitized Mesoporous Carbon for Enhancing the Accessibility and Durability of Cathode Pt-Based Catalysts for Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells

Modulating Electronic Spin State of Perovskite Fluoride by Ni─F─Mn Bond Activating the Dynamic Site of Oxygen Reduction Reaction

Establishing the relationship between catalytic performance and material structure is crucial for developing design principles for highly active catalysts. Herein, a type of perovskite fluoride, NH4MnF3, which owns strong-field coordination including fluorine and ammonia, is in situ grown on carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and used as a model structure to study and improve the intrinsic catalytic activity through heteroatom doping strategies. This approach optimizes spin-dependent orbital interactions to alter the charge transfer between the catalyst and reactants. As a result, the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) activity of NH4MnF3 on CNTs is significantly enhanced by partial substitution of Mn sites with Ni, such as a half-wave potential (E1/2) of 0.86 V and a limiting current density of 5.26 mA cm-2, which are comparable to those of the commercial Pt/C catalysts. Experimental and theoretical calculations reveal that the introduction of Ni promotes lattice distortion, adjusts the electronic states of the active Mn centers, facilitates the transition from low-spin to intermediate-spin states, and shifts the d-band center closer to the Fermi level. This study establishes a novel approach for designing high-performance perovskite-based fluoride electrocatalysts by modulating spin states.