Synergistic effect of S, N-co-doped mesoporous carbon materials with high performance for oxygen-reduction reaction and Li-ion batteries

S, N-co-doped porous carbon (SNPC) materials are good candidates for the cathodic oxygen-reduction reaction (ORR) and lithium-ion batteries (LIBs). However, SNPC gives low yield and is expensive. Herein, we report a new and efficient method for synthesizing a S, N-co-doped mesoporous carbon material through the carbonization of S, N-containing precursors in molten ZnCl2, where ZnCl2 served as the ionic solvent and Lewis acid catalyst. The resultant SNPC-800 showed a mesoporous structure with a specific surface area of 1235 m(2) g(-1) and a mesopore-size range of 10-45 nm, which were considerably larger than those obtained through the carbonization of ionic liquids and fabrication of graphene oxides. Furthermore, ORR measurements indicated good catalytic activity, comparable to the commercial Pt/C catalyst. Also the SNPC-800 material exhibited excellent catalytic stability, and high methanol tolerance compared to the commercial Pt/C catalyst. Density functional theory calculation results revealed that the catalytic properties originated from the synergistic effect of the S/N dopant and that the main catalytic reaction path followed an associative mechanism. LIB tests further showed high reversible capacity, as well as excellent cycling stability and rate performance.