Diatomite waste derived N-doped porous carbon for applications in the oxygen reduction reaction and supercapacitors

Abstract

Biomass waste recycling and utilization is of great significance for improving ecological environments and relieving the current energy crisis. Waste diatomite with an adsorbed mass of yeast protein resulting from beer filtration is feasibly converted into N-doped porous carbon (NPC) via high temperature thermal treatment. The resulting NPC inherits the three-dimensional hierarchical structure of the diatomite, with a unique rich-pore feature composed of micro/meso/macropores, which is beneficial for high exposure of the electrocatalytic sites and ion transfer and diffusion. The NPC compounds with controllable nitrogen doping are used for the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) and in a supercapacitor. NPC-2 exhibits a half-wave potential of 0.801 V comparable to that (0.812 V) of commercially available Pt/C in alkaline media, along with a good methanol tolerance capacity and long-term stability for the ORR. Furthermore, as an electrode material, a symmetric supercapacitor based on NPC-2 manifests an outstanding specific capacitance of 151.5 F g⁻¹ at a current density of 1 A g⁻¹ and a considerable capacitance retention of 90.5% after a cycling performance test of 10 000 cycles. The NPC-2 based symmetric SC delivered an energy density of 13.47 W h kg⁻¹ at a power density of 400 W kg⁻¹. This work highlights the environmental significance of converting waste diatomite into metal-free ORR catalysts and electrode materials for energy conversion and storage technologies.