Preparation of nitrogen-doped carbon materials based on polyaniline fiber and their oxygen reduction properties

Abstract

The nitrogen-doped carbon materials express excellent oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) electrocatalytic activity, which can be used as cathode catalyst for fuel cells to replace platinum electrocatalysts. In this paper, polyaniline and glucose as precursors were used to prepare nitrogen-doped carbon materials by hydrothermal reaction combined with high temperature carbonization activation. The results showed that the onset potential of nitrogen-doped porous materials calcined at 900 ℃ (PCPG-900) was −0.171 V, which was close to commercial Pt/C catalyst (−0.03 V) and the limiting current density was 5.4 mA cm−2, which was 0.9 mA cm−2 higher than that of Pt/C catalyst (4.5 mA cm−2). And the (average) number of electrons transfer number per molecule of O2 was 4.2, indicating that oxygen reduction reaction mainly via four-electron reduction of O2 to H2O. The resulting product may be a promising candidate as alternative catalysts for the cathode side in fuel cells.