Metal-free nitrogen-doped carbon foam electrocatalysts for the oxygen reduction reaction in acid solution

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Liu, J. and Yu, S. and Daio, T. and Ismail, M. S. and Sasaki, K. and Lyth, S. M. (2016) Metal-free nitrogen-doped carbon foam electrocatalysts for the oxygen reduction reaction in acid solution. Journal of the Electrochemical Society, 163 (9). F1049-F1054. ISSN 0013-4651 (https://doi.org/10.1149/2.0631609jes)

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Abstract

Metal-free, nitrogen-doped carbon foam is utilized as a model non-precious electrocatalyst system to investigate the role of nitrogen in the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) in the absence of iron contamination. This graphene-like foam displays relatively high activity for the ORR in acid, despite being proven free from transition-metal impurities. The onset potential is 0.85 VRHE, the mass activity is 2.8 A/g at 0.6 VRHE, and the current density is -4.0 mA/cm2. The maximum electron transfer number is calculated to be 3.6, revealing that a 4-electron pathway is possible in nitrogen-doped carbon, even in the absence of transition-metal coordination sites. The excellent electrochemical activity is attributed to the large surface area (700 m2/g), improved conductivity after graphitization, and the relatively high proportion of tertiary (graphite-like) nitrogen.

ORCID iDs

Liu, J., Yu, S., Daio, T., Ismail, M. S., Sasaki, K. and Lyth, S. M. ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9563-867X;
CORE (COnnecting REpositories)