Heteroatom-doped nanoporous carbon from recyclable Pueraria lobata and its dual activities for oxygen reduction and hydrogen evolution reactions

Abstract

Many efficient and non-precious metal catalysts for oxygen reduction or hydrogen evolution reactions have been developed, but bifunctional catalysts for both oxygen reduction reaction and hydrogen evolution reactions are seldom reported despite their advantages. Herein, we designed the bulk preparation of heteroatom-doped nanoporous carbon catalysts using widely available and recyclable Pueraria lobata powder as the carbon source. The typical product was N, P and Fe Tri-doped nano-porous carbon (N,P,Fe-NPC) with high surface area (BET surface area of 776.68 m² g⁻¹ and electrochemical surface area of 55.0 mF cm⁻²). The typical N,P,Fe-NPC sample simultaneously exhibited high activities for oxygen reduction and hydrogen evolution reactions. Because of the high surface area and the tri-doping of N, P and Fe elements, the prepared material may have applications in other fields such as gas uptake, sensors, sewage treatment, and supercapacitors. The suggested approach is low-cost, simple and readily scalable.