Laser-derived porous carbon as a metal-free electrocatalyst for oxygen evolution reaction

We introduce a metal-free, high-surface-area N-containing carbon material prepared via single-step laser-induced carbonization of polyimide films as an electrocatalyst for oxygen evolution reaction (OER), which obviates the need for a loading substrate. Our inexpensive and scalable one-step fabrication process yields porous carbon films with a high atomic ratio of pyridinic and pyrrolic N functional groups. The material is activated by inducing additional oxygen-rich functional groups, resulting in more electrochemically active sites and less charge transfer resistance for superior electrocatalytic performance. The activated laser-carbon exhibits an excellent catalytic activity towards OER with an overpotential of 470 mV at a current density of 10 mA cm(-2), which is much lower compared to other metal-free electrocatalysts. This multi-functional carbon material has an immense potential for the fabrication of lightweight water electrolyzers as well as in the designing of electrode for flexible solid-state metal-air batteries. (c) 2022 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)

Automated summary

A metal-free, high-surface-area N-containing carbon material prepared through laser-induced carbonization shows excellent electrocatalytic performance for oxygen evolution reaction, making it a promising candidate for lightweight water electrolyzers and flexible solid-state metal-air batteries.