Carbon dot hybrid porous carbon nanofibers as efficient electrocatalysts for the oxygen reduction reaction

Abstract

In recent years, carbon based materials have been widely used in the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) due to their unique electronic properties, tunable nanostructure characteristics and stability, and their catalytic performance has gradually improved. However, the current carbon based catalysts still suffer from slow kinetics, low catalytic efficiency and high cost. Therefore, we developed an efficient ORR catalyst based on nitrogen and phosphorus co-doped porous carbon nanofibers (PCNFs). The PCNFs have a clear pore structure, a high specific surface area, and uniformly doped N and P heteroatoms. C-dots were used as efficient building blocks for incorporating heteroatoms and defect sites to modify the electronic structure of the PCNFs and optimize the adsorption energy of oxygen-containing intermediates during the 4e⁻ ORR procedure. These properties enable an increased electrochemically active surface area of heterostructures and provide an effective pathway for electron and mass transfer; the PCNFs have superior catalytic activity and significantly improved durability.