Nitrogen-enriched carbon from bamboo fungus with superior oxygen reduction reaction activity

Abstract

Fuel cells are promising candidates for clean and high-efficient energy conversion in the future. The development of carbon-based inexpensive metal-free ORR catalysts has become one of the most attractive topics in the fuel cell field. Herein, we report a N-doped carbon catalyst with a surface area of up to 1895.5 m² g⁻¹ using a natural product (bamboo fungus) as the starting material. In 0.1 M KOH electrolyte, the ORR onset potential for the catalyst is high up to 0.089 V vs. Ag/AgCl. Moreover, it shows superior stability, fuel crossover resistance, and selective activity to a commercial Pt/C catalyst. In addition, the sample displays excellent stability, i.e. no obvious decrease in current was observed after 1000 continuous cycles between −0.7 and 0.3 V in O₂-saturated 0.1 M KOH. Moreover, both the structural characterizations and electrochemical tests verify that the treatment techniques of biomass have an important impact on the materials.