TY - GEN A1 - Kramm, Ulrike Ingrid A1 - Zana, Alessandro A1 - Vosch, Tom A1 - Fiechter, Sebastian A1 - Arenz, Matthias A1 - Schmeißer, Dieter T1 - On the structural composition and stability of Fe–N–C catalysts prepared by an intermediate acid leaching T2 - Journal of Solid State Electrochemistry N2 - The development of highly active and stable non-noble metal catalysts (NNMC) for the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) in proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEM-FC) becomes of importance in order to enable cost reduction. In this work, we discuss the structural composition as derived from Fe-57Mößbauer spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction, catalytic performance determined by a rotating (ring)disk electrode (RRDE) technique and stability evaluation of our Fe–N–C catalysts prepared by an intermediate acid leaching (IAL). The advantage of this IAL is given by a high density of active sites within the catalyst, as even without sulphur addition, an iron carbide formation and related disintegration of active sites are inhibited. In addition, our accelerated stress tests illustrate better stability of the sulphur-free IAL catalyst in comparison to the sulphur-added one. KW - Non-noblemetal catalysts (NNMC) KW - Fe–N–C KW - oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) KW - PEM fuel cell (PEM-FC) KW - Accelerated stress tests (ASTs) KW - Mößbauer spectroscopy Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1007/s10008-015-3060-z SN - 1432-8488 SN - 1433-0768 N1 - 1. ISSN: P 2. ISSN: E VL - 20 IS - 4 SP - 969 EP - 981 ER -