Journal
NANOSCALE
Volume 7, Issue 14, Pages 6136-6142Publisher
ROYAL SOC CHEMISTRY
DOI: 10.1039/c5nr00013k
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Funding
- Recruitment Program of Global Experts
- PhD Start-up Funds of the Natural Science Foundation of Guangdong Province [S2013040016465]
- Zhujiang New Stars of Science Technology
- Fundamental Research Funds for Central Universities, China
- National Science Foundation [CHE-1265635, DMR-1409396]
- Direct For Mathematical & Physical Scien [1409396] Funding Source: National Science Foundation
- Division Of Chemistry [1265635] Funding Source: National Science Foundation
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Biomass-derived nitrogen self-doped porous carbon was synthesized by a facile procedure based on simple pyrolysis of water hyacinth (eichhornia crassipes) at controlled temperatures (600-800 degrees C) with ZnCl2 as an activation reagent. The obtained porous carbon exhibited a BET surface area up to 950.6 m(2) g(-1), and various forms of nitrogen (pyridinic, pyrrolic and graphitic) were found to be incorporated into the carbon molecular skeleton. Electrochemical measurements showed that the nitrogen self-doped carbons possessed a high electrocatalytic activity for ORR in alkaline media that was highly comparable to that of commercial 20% Pt/C catalysts. Experimentally, the best performance was identified with the sample prepared at 700 degrees C, with the onset potential at ca. +0.98 V vs. RHE, that possessed the highest concentrations of pyridinic and graphitic nitrogens among the series. Moreover, the porous carbon catalysts showed excellent long-term stability and much enhanced methanol tolerance, as compared to commercial Pt/C. The performance was also markedly better than or at least comparable to the leading results in the literature based on biomass-derived carbon catalysts for ORR. The results suggested a promising route based on economical and sustainable biomass towards the development and engineering of value-added carbon materials as effective metal-free cathode catalysts for alkaline fuel cells.
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