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, and Xiaoming Sun*
Nano Res. 2013, 6(4): 293-301
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 as-prepared material have a high specific 10.8%. The 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.