N-Doped porous biocarbon materials derived from soya peptone as efficient electrocatalysts for the ORR

Abstract

Exploring economic, scalable, and highly efficient carbon materials for the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) is of great significance to a variety of renewable energy conversion and storage technologies. Herein, we directly convert soya peptone as a carbon precursor to a series of mesoporous nanocarbon-based materials for the ORR via a one-step pyrolysis process combined with the help of ZnCl₂ as an activator. Benefiting from the effective chemical activation effect during carbonization, the optimal electrocatalysts possess mesoporous structures and high surface area (>1000 m² g⁻¹) which favor fast mass transport, electron transfer, and exposure of abundant active sites. Remarkably, the electrocatalysts show a comparable ORR catalytic performance, excellent stability, and superior methanol tolerance, comparable to the commercial Pt/C catalyst. Thus, soya peptone biomass derived carbon materials are surely helpful for providing a new space to develop ORR electrocatalysts.