A Highly Nanoporous Nitrogen-Doped Carbon Microfiber Derived from Bioresource as a New Kind of ORR Electrocatalyst

Chaozhong Guo; Yanrong Li; Ya Xu; Qin Xiang; Lingtao Sun; Weizhong Zhang; Wensheng Li; Yujun Si; Zhongli Luo

doi:10.1186/s11671-019-2854-9

A Highly Nanoporous Nitrogen-Doped Carbon Microfiber Derived from Bioresource as a New Kind of ORR Electrocatalyst

Nanoscale Res Lett. 2019 Jan 15;14(1):22. doi: 10.1186/s11671-019-2854-9.

Authors

Chaozhong Guo¹, Yanrong Li², Ya Xu³, Qin Xiang⁴, Lingtao Sun⁵, Weizhong Zhang⁶, Wensheng Li⁷, Yujun Si⁸, Zhongli Luo⁹

Affiliations

¹ Research Institute for New Materials Technology, School of Materials and Chemical Engineering, Engineering Research Center of New Energy Storage Devices and Applications, Chongqing University of Arts and Sciences, Chongqing, 402160, China. guochaozhong1987@163.com.
² College of Materials Science and Engineering, Chongqing University of Technology, Chongqing, 400054, China.
³ Hubei Collaborative Innovation Center for Advanced Organic Chemical Materials, and Ministry of Education Key Laboratory for the Green Preparation and Application of Functional Materials, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Hubei University, Wuhan, 430062, China.
⁴ College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Chongqing University, Chongqing, 400044, Shapingba, China.
⁵ Research Institute for New Materials Technology, School of Materials and Chemical Engineering, Engineering Research Center of New Energy Storage Devices and Applications, Chongqing University of Arts and Sciences, Chongqing, 402160, China. 595118563@qq.com.
⁶ School of Resources and Civil Engineering, Wuhan Institute of Technology, Wuhan, 430070, Hubei, China.
⁷ College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Chongqing University of Technology, Chongqing, 400054, China.
⁸ College of Chemistry and Environmental Engineering, Sichuan University of Science and Engineering, Zigong, 643000, China. syj08448@163.com.
⁹ College of Basic Medical Sciences, Molecular Medicine and Cancer Research Center, Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing, People's Republic of China.

Abstract

Synthesis of metal-free carbon-based electrocatalysts for oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) to replace the conventional platinum-based catalysts has currently become a hot topic of research. This work proposes an activation-assisted carbonization strategy for the fabrication of nitrogen-doped nanoporous carbon microfibers (Me-CFZ-900) with a high BET surface area (~ 929.4 m² g^-1) via using melamine as a promoter/nitrogen source and bamboo-carbon biowastes as the carbon source with the help of a zinc chloride activator. Electrochemical tests showed that the Me-CFZ-900 material has exhibited excellent ORR electrocatalytic activity and long-term stability, and also displayed a quasi-four-electron ORR pathway in alkaline electrolyte. We also find that the graphitic-N may be the catalytically active site for the ORR, but the formation of planar-N can further help to promote the ORR activity for our catalysts. The results open a new space and provide a new idea to prepare valuable porous nanocarbon materials on the basis of carbonaceous solid wastes for catalysis of a wide range of electrochemical reactions in the future.

Keywords: Bamboo-carbon biowaste; Carbon microfiber; Electrocatalyst; Nanoporous carbon; Oxygen reduction reaction.