Co/N co-doped graphene-like nanocarbon for highly efficient oxygen reduction electrocatalyst

Abstract

The development of efficient and inexpensive graphene-based electrocatalysts is of great significance to promote the commercial application of fuel cell and metal-air batteries. In this paper, a new type of Co and N co-doped graphene-like nanocarbon (Co/N-GLC) material was prepared by nano-silicon protection and high temperature pyrolysis. The obtained Co/N-GLC catalyst not only has a similar morphology of graphene, but also possesses a high specific surface area (809 m 2 g −1 ) with hierarchical porous structure (micropores/mesopores), and relative high active dopants content. These properties endow it with a good oxygen reduction activity in alkaline media, which can be comparable to commercial Pt/C catalyst. Moreover, the assembled zinc-air batteries using Co/N-GLC catalyst as the air electrode display a better discharge performance and higher stability compared to that of Pt/C electrode. This work demonstrates that the prepared graphene-like carbon catalyst has a good prospect, which can replace noble metal catalyst at the cathode in metalair batteries.