One-step synthesis of cobalt, nitrogen-codoped carbon as nonprecious bifunctional electrocatalyst for oxygen reduction and evolution reactions

It is highly desired for the development of efficient bifunctional electrocatalyst for both oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) and oxygen evolution reaction (OER) in renewable energy technologies. In this work, cobalt, nitrogen-codoped carbon was prepared by a facile one-step method and demonstrated to exhibit good electrocatalytic performance for ORR and OER via a complete four-electron process. Besides, the catalyst prepared at 900 degrees C also displayed excellent stability for both ORR and OER. Furthermore, the origin of catalytic activity was also explored, which was attributed to the synergistic effects of metallic Co and quaternary N.