It
is vital to explore sustainable and highly efficient catalysts
for the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) with increasing energy demand.
Herein, a cobalt (Co) atom dispersed on an N-doped carbon nanosphere
catalyst (denoted as ECo@D) was designed and constructed by a simple
precursor-engineering method. The regulation of heteroatoms and Co
metal atoms in precursors introduces more defects and thus reduces
the degree of graphitization in the catalyst. The high N content of
5.23 at% in the ECo@D catalyst provides abundant N sites to anchor
metallic Co atoms, which further increases the defects for enhanced
catalytic activity. The obtained ECo@D with an ultralow loading of
Co (only 0.041 wt %) exhibits an onset potential of 1.05 V, a limited-diffusion
current density of 4.74 mA/cm2, and a half-wave potential
of 0.79 V for the ORR under alkaline conditions, comparable to those
of commercial Pt/C (1.06 V, 4.58 mA/cm2, and 0.81 V, respectively).
Therefore, the synergistic effect of heteroatoms and Co metal atoms
is beneficial for tuning the carbon matrix defects, which leads to
the improvement of ORR activity. The Koutecky–Levich equation
and rotating ring-disk electrode tests reveal a complete four-electron
oxygen reduction pathway, impeding hydrogen peroxide generation. Moreover,
nearly 93.8% of the current is retained for ECo@D after 10 h stability
testing without any morphological structural collapse. Meanwhile,
it demonstrates superior tolerance to methanol. Our discovery opens
a door to engineering the defects of carbon catalysts through introducing
ultralow loading of non-noble metal atoms on substrates.