Hierarchically porous aggregates of Co–N–C nanoparticles for oxygen electrocatalysis

Abstract

Herein, a novel assembled Co–N–C (A–Co–N–C) material was reported for the first time by pyrolyzing zeolitic imidazolate framework-67 (ZIF-67) nanoparticle aggregates caused by the introduction of surfactant polystyrene sulfonic acid (PSS). The A–Co–N-C has a large surface area of 455 m² g⁻¹ with micropores (101 m² g⁻¹) and mesopores (354 m² g⁻¹). The A–Co–N-C exhibits good bifunctional catalytic oxygen reduction/evolution reaction (ORR/OER) and Zn–air battery activity. This work provides a simple but efficient strategy for constructing hierarchically porous aggregates of Co-N-C nanoparticles.