Nitrogen and sulfur dual-doped carbon microtubes with enhanced performances for oxygen reduction reaction

Authors: Deng, L., Fang, H., Zhang, P., Abdelkader, A., Ren, X., Li, Y. and Xie, N.

Journal: Journal of the Electrochemical Society

Volume: 163

Issue: 5

Pages: H343-H349

eISSN: 1945-7111

ISSN: 0013-4651

DOI: 10.1149/2.1131605jes

Abstract:

Porous carbon microtubes were prepared by pyrolysing an inexpensive and abundant natural fungus at a high temperature, followed by activation and doping with nitrogen (N) and sulfur (S) elements at a lower temperature. The performance of the porous carbon as electrocatalysts for oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) was systematically investigated. The pristine carbon without doping shows a high electrocatalytic activity, which is strongly dependent on the degree of graphitization. By N-and S-dual-doping, the catalytic performance is further enhanced, exhibiting a four-electron oxygen reduction pathway, which is attributed to the redistribution of spin and charge densities. These results suggest that obtaining graphitic porous carbon from natural precursors combined with heteroatom-doping, provide an effective method of producing high performance carbon materials which might be suitable for various electrochemical energy applications.

Source: Scopus