An Efficient, Ecofriendly Bimetallic Fe-In MOF and its g-C₃N₄ Based Composites for Methanol Oxidation Reaction

The absence of stable and highly active non-precious metal electrocatalysts as a substitute to precious metal i.e., Pt (state-of-the-art) for methanol oxidation reaction in the application of direct methanol fuel cell considerably impedes the commercialization of these energy devices. In this work the electrocatalytic investigation of Fe-In MOF and its g-C₃N₄-based composites (i.e., 5–8 wt% g-C₃N₄@ Fe-In MOF) for methanol oxidation is reported. All the catalysts were prepared via solvothermal method. XRD, SEM, EDX, and FTIR were used to characterize the Fe-In MOF and its 5–8wt% g-C₃N₄ composites. In comparison to other prepared g-C₃N₄ based Fe-In MOF composites, the 7wt% g-C₃N₄ @ Fe-In MOF catalyst showed much greater electrochemical activity (i.e., 95.54 mA/cm²) and stability of 72.45% in 1 M NaOH and 3 M CH₃OH. Due to graphitic carbon nitride specified high catalytic activity, intercalation, ion exchange, and redox properties. Further, the availability of iron (Fe) and indium (In) may also show a significant role in enhancing the electrocatalytic performance of 7wt% g-C₃N₄ @ Fe-In MOF over Fe-In MOF. They could be viewed as stable and economical electrocatalysts due to their numerous advantageous characteristics in structure, content, and nitrogen doping level.