A high-performance mesoporous carbon supported nitrogen-doped carbon electrocatalyst for oxygen reduction reaction

Abstract

Investigating low-cost and highly active electrocatalysts for oxygen reduction reactions (ORR) is of crucial importance for energy conversion and storage devices. Herein, we design and prepare mesoporous carbon supported nitrogen-doped carbon by pyrolysis of polyaniline coated on CMK-3. This electrocatalyst exhibits excellent performance towards ORR in alkaline media. The optimized nitrogen-doped mesoporous electrocatalyst show an onset potential (E ) of 0.95 V (versus reversible hydrogen electrode (RHE)) and half-wave potential (E) of 0.83 V (versus RHE) in 0.1 M KOH. Furthermore, the as-prepared catalyst presents superior durability and methanol tolerance compared to commercial Pt/C indicating its potential applications in fuel cells and metal-air batteries.

Boron-Doped C3N Monolayer as a Promising Metal-Free Oxygen Reduction Reaction Catalyst: A Theoretical Insight

“…In the last couple of years, because of their good performance, low cost, rich resource, and free from CO poisoning, carbon-based materials have attracted considerable attention as active ORR catalysts. − It is well-known that by introducing heteroatoms or defects in graphene, its ORR activity can be significantly enhanced compared with the pristine graphene, − such as N, − P, MN x (M = Fe and Co, x = 1–4) , and molecule-doped graphene, and single-sided fluorine-functionalized graphene . In particular, N-doped carbon materials (e.g., carbon nanotubes, nanotube cups, ordered mesoporous graphitic arrays, and graphene) have been reported as metal-free catalysts for ORR in both acidic and alkaline media. ,,− The electronegativity difference between the doped N and the lattice C atoms has been assumed to be the origin of the catalytic activity for the ORR. On the other hand, B is one electron-deficient and less electronegative than C, which may make B a good candidate similar to N in the context of inducing an electronegativity difference in the carbon matrix.…”

A facile synthesis for nitrogen‐doped carbon catalyst with high activity of oxygen reduction reaction in acidic media

“…According to the previous study, a heat treatment in N 2 is an effective method to get rid of impurity substances and enhance the effect of carbonization. As a result, the heat temperature in N 2 has been widely reported, and 800°C and 900°C have been considered suitable for nitrogen‐doped carbon catalysts in ORR 29,37,45‐48 . Therefore, the heat temperature in N 2 including 800°C and 900°C is discussed firstly by Raman spectra to reflect the defect and graphitic degree.…”

Soybean straw biomass-derived Fe–N co-doped porous carbon as an efficient electrocatalyst for oxygen reduction in both alkaline and acidic media

“…The isotherm shape contained an obvious H3 hysteresis loop, indicating that these catalysts had mesoporous structures. 31 The BET surface areas of different catalysts are shown in Table 1. It could also be seen from the pore size distribution in Fig.…”