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Research Article

One-step scalable preparation of N-doped nanoporous carbon as a high-performance electrocatalyst for the oxygen reduction reaction

Zhenyu Liu, Guoxin Zhang, Zhiyi Lu, Xiuyan Jin, Zheng Chang, Xiaoming Sun ()
State Key Laboratory of Chemical Resource EngineeringP. O. Box 98Beijing University of Chemical TechnologyBeijing100029China
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Abstract

N-doped porous carbon materials have been prepared by a simple one-step pyrolysis of ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) and melamine in the presence of KOH and Co(NO3)2·6H2O. The combination of the high specific area (1, 485 m2·g–1), high nitrogen content (10.8%) and suitable graphitic degree results in catalysts exhibiting high activity (with onset and half-wave potentials of 0.88 and 0.79 V vs the reversible hydrogen electrode (RHE), respectively) and four-electron selectivity for the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) in alkaline medium—comparable to a commercial Pt/C catalyst, but far exceeding Pt/C in stability and durability. Owing to their superb ORR performance, low cost and facile preparation, the catalysts have great potential applications in fuel cells, metal–air batteries, and ORR-related electrochemical industries.

Keywords

oxygen reduction reactionnitrogen-dopingporous carbon

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Nano Research
Volume 6 Issue 4,
April 2013
Pages 293-301
DOI: 10.1007/s12274-013-0307-9
Cite this article:
Liu Z, Zhang G, Lu Z, et al. One-step scalable preparation of N-doped nanoporous carbon as a high-performance electrocatalyst for the oxygen reduction reaction. Nano Research, 2013, 6(4): 293-301. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12274-013-0307-9
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