Cobalt-Doped Carbon Nitride Frameworks Obtained from Calcined Aromatic Polyimines as Cathode Catalyst of Anion Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells

Cobalt-doped carbon nitride frameworks (CoNC) were prepared from the calcination of Co-chelated aromatic polyimines (APIM) synthesized from stepwise polymerization of p-phenylene diamine (PDA) and o-phthalaldehyde (OPAl) via Schiff base reactions in the presence of cobalt (II) chloride. The Co-chelated APIM (Co-APIM) precursor converted to CoNC after calcination in two-step heating with the second step performed at 100 °C lower than the first one. The CoNCs demonstrated that its Co, N-co-doped carbonaceous framework contained both graphene and carbon nanotube, as characterized by X-ray diffraction pattern, Raman spectra, and TEM micropictures. CoNCs also revealed a significant ORR peak in the current–voltage polarization cycle and a higher O2 reduction current than that of commercial Pt/C in a linear scanning voltage test in O2-saturated KOH(aq). The calculated e-transferred number even reaches 3.94 in KOH(aq) for the CoNC1000A900 cathode catalyst, which has the highest BET surface area of 393.94 m2 g−1. Single cells of anion exchange membrane fuel cells (AEMFCs) are fabricated using different CoNCs as the cathode catalysts, and CoNC1000A900 demonstrates a peak power density of 374.3 compared to the 334.7 mW cm−2 obtained from the single cell using Pt/C as the cathode catalyst.