Issue 9, 2021

N-doped porous carbon spheres as metal-free electrocatalyst for oxygen reduction reaction

Abstract

The exploration of efficient oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) electrocatalysts with low-cost and facile process is crucial for the commercialization of fuel cells and metal–air batteries. Herein, we demonstrate a template-free strategy to synthesize N-doped porous carbon spheres (NPCS-X, X denotes the pyrolysis temperature) composed of nanosheets via pyrolysis of self-assembled urea formaldehyde (UF) resin as a single precursor. The resultant NPCS-900 exhibits an outstanding electrocatalytic activity towards ORR with a half-wave potential (E1/2) of 0.87 V (vs. RHE), superior long-term stability and methanol resistance compared with the commercial Pt/C catalyst in alkaline solution. Furthermore, NPCS-900 also has an impressive ORR electrocatalytic activity and durability in an acid electrolyte. The excellent electrochemical performance of NPCS-900 can be attributed to the abundant exposed active sites of N-species and carbon defects distributed throughout the porous carbon nanosheets of NPCS-900.

Graphical abstract: N-doped porous carbon spheres as metal-free electrocatalyst for oxygen reduction reaction

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
25 Nov 2020
Accepted
06 Jan 2021
First published
08 Jan 2021

J. Mater. Chem. A, 2021,9, 5751-5758

N-doped porous carbon spheres as metal-free electrocatalyst for oxygen reduction reaction

G. Ren, S. Chen, J. Zhang, N. Zhang, C. Jiao, H. Qiu, C. Liu and H. Wang, J. Mater. Chem. A, 2021, 9, 5751 DOI: 10.1039/D0TA11493F

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